Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar were rested and Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath and Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhimaan Saha recalled to India's 16-member ODI squad for the tour of the West Indies.
Rohit Sharma led the mid-innings rescue effort after a top-order collapse as India 'A' managed to take a slender 25-run lead against the West Indies 'A' on the second day of their first four-day cricket Test in Bridgetown.
He was poised to make his Test debut last February when fate struck a cruel blow. A freak injury on the eve of the opening Test against South Africa in Nagpur meant Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the match, thereby ensuring an unexpected debut for Wriddhimaan Saha.
The 16-member Indian squad led by Virat Kohli left for the West Indies to engage the hosts in a four-Test rubber later this month and in August.
Indian cricket team, led by skipper Virat Kohli, on Thursday reached St Kitts to play a four-Test bilateral series against the West Indies starting with the opening match at Antigua on July 21.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead an 18-man squad for the Test series against England. Opener Gautam Gambhir, whose last Test was in 2012, makes a comeback while two uncapped medium pacers - Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh - find a place in the team after Zaheer Khan, who had to set out of the India leg of the Indian Premier League following a back injury, was overlooked.
India's batsmen came good on a flat track to put up 369 for 5 on Day 3 of the first Test against Australia in Adelaide on Thursday. Wriddhimaan Saha (1) and Rohit Sharma (33) were at the crease at the draw of stumps. Images from the day's play.
Virat Kohli became only the third Indian to score a hundred on his captaincy debut as the visitors responded resolutely to Australia's mammoth first innings total by reaching 369 for five on the third day to leave the first cricket Test evenly poised at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.