India vs England, 3rd Test: Ishant Sharma released from hosts' squad for his wedding

Ishant Sharma has been released from the Indian squad for the ongoing Test series against England in order to get a much-needed break for his wedding, which is set to take place on 9 December.

The lanky pacer, who last played an international match during India’s tour of the West Indies, was confirmed to have been released from the squad for the fourth Test at Mumbai, which begins a day before his marriage. According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the national selectors confirmed it during a meeting on Saturday, in which they also decided to pick Parthiv Patel as the wicketkeeper-batsman after Wriddhiman Saha failed to fully recover from his injury.

Ishant’s release, however, was not met with a replacement as the selectors concluded that Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s presence in the squad as the third pacer would be adequate for the Indian team’s needs. With India opting for a 14-man squad for the fourth Test, in which they will aim to clinch the series, they now have Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar as the pace options, aside from the three spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav.

Ishant had earlier been picked in the squad for the New Zealand Test series, although a bout of chikungunya ensured that he did not make an appearance against the Black Caps. After a couple of appearances in the Ranji Trophy, however, he found himself back in contention for a place in the squad for the first two Tests against England.

The Delhi pacer, earlier, had visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with basketball player and fiancee Pratima Singh to invite him to his wedding, which will be held both in Delhi and Varanasi, which happens to be Pratima’s hometown.

Ishant’s India teammate Yuvraj Singh had earlier visited Parliament along with girlfriend Hazel Keech to invite Modi to his wedding, which took place in separate ceremonies in Chandigarh and Goa earlier this week.