A total of 16 players have played in all formats of domestic cricket for India, according to figures from the Indian cricket board, the highest number in the world.
Among them are former Test captain and two-time Test captain Rahul Dravid and the veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir, who are all among the eight to play in all five formats of the domestic game in the current ICC Champions Trophy.
The three-Test series against Zimbabwe in August, when the home side’s lead grew to 10 wickets in seven overs, is likely to be the highest-scoring match of the tournament so far.
The most-wicket-taker in the tournament is Virat Kohli, who has scored 10 in three matches.
The other five players who have scored at least 10 in the first three Tests are the former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Irfan (eight), the Sri Lanka captain Sushil Kumar Sangakkara (seven), former India captain Rahul Hazare (six) and Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik (five).
Babar Azam, who scored his maiden Test century in January, has been the best Test player in India’s domestic cricket so far this season.
The six players who were named as part of the first Test squad, along with two other batsmen, have been dropped from the second Test squad.
The BCCI said the changes were made in order to bring the team in sync with the schedule.
However, the BCCI did not give a precise figure for the number of matches that will be played in India.
The figures in this column were taken from the official BCCI website.
