Iyer left out for remaining three Tests against England; Kohli unavailable

Shreyas Iyer has been left out of the Indian squad for the remaining three Tests against England. Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul are part of the 17-member list, but their availability is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team. Both had missed the second Test, Jadeja with a hamstring injury and Rahul with a quadriceps problem.

Bengal seamer Akash Deep has received his first Test call-up, while Virat Kohli continues to be unavailable due to personal reasons.

In the first two Tests, Iyer was the only senior Indian batter, apart from Rohit Sharma, not to register a significant score – he made 35 and 13 in Hyderabad and 27 and 29 in Visakhapatnam. Considered one of India's best hitters against spin, Iyer, however, struggled in both defense and stroke play.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that Iyer suffered back spasms a day or two after the second Test but was cleared for selection. Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar, who made his debut for Visakhapatnam and scored 32 and 9, retained his place, as did the uncapped Sarfaraz Khan.

Deep was impressive in the recent three-match red-ball series against the England Lions, finishing as the leading wicket-taker for India A with 11 wickets at 18.72. Previously, he was part of the Asian Games-winning Indian team and was also included in the KL Rahul-led squad for the ODI series in South Africa.

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mukesh Kumar are the other seamers in the team. Mohammed Shami, who is recovering from an ankle injury, remains out of action. His last appearance for India was in the ODI World Cup final in November.

The five-match Test series against England currently stands at 1-1. The third Test begins on February 15 in Rajkot, before the teams travel to Ranchi for the fourth match starting on February 23. The fifth and final Test will be played in Dharamsala from March 7.

Indian squad for final three England Tests

Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (week), KS Bharat (week), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep