Indian skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and senior pacer Ishant Sharma are among the key players set to return for the home series against England as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 18-man squad for the first two Tests on Tuesday. 

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The newly-formed selection committee, led by former pacer Chetan Sharma, also named spinning all-rounder Axar Patel in the squad and KL Rahul has been included but his participation is subject to a fitness Test after the first Test. 

Kohli missed out on the last three Tests against Australia after returning to India for the birth of his first child, while Pandya, who played the white-ball leg of the tour, did not feature in the Tests after concerns over his bowling following a back surgery. 

Meanwhile, Sharma missed out on the tour altogether after sustaining a side strain injury during the IPL 2020. 

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Following their recent success against Australia, pacers Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur have also been included in the squad, with Jasprit Bumrah set to lead the pace attack. 

The BCCI has also included four standby players, who will not initially travel with the squad, but will be pulled out of their respective domestic tournaments if a member of the main squad needs to be replaced. They are spinners Rahul Chahar and Shahbaz Nadeem, wicket-keeper KS Bharat and batsman Abhimanya Easwaran.

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The first two Test are scheduled to be held in Chennai, with the next two  scheduled to be held in Ahmedabad. 

India squad for first two Tests: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel.