England surprised their fans by announcing 20-year-old Somerset player Shoaib Bashir as one of three uncapped players in their squad.
Bashir, who played just six matches of first-class cricket for the Somerset club, was selected based on his potential, perhaps based on his high form and impressive performance at the England Lions training camp in the United Arab Emirates.
However, Bashir was ruled out of the first Test after being unable to travel to India in time due to a visa delay.
In a 16-man touring group, the other two uncapped men were Lancashire left-arm pacer Hartley and Surrey fast bowler Jos Atkinson. Both Hartley and Atkinson played white-ball cricket for the national team.
Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed is also in the squad and there is a fourth spin option in Jack Leach, who is back from a stress fracture in his back. Liam Dawson and Will Jacks, two other spinners with international experience, have been left out.
There are four bowling options: James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood and Atkinson.
Harry Brook was ruled out of the first part of the tour while attending to an undisclosed personal matter in England.
England's 16-man squad for India
Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (wicket-keeper), Shoaib Bashir, Harry BrockZak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Fox, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood, Dan Lawrence.
India are the highest-ranked team in Test cricket, following a 1-1 draw in the three-match series against South Africa. The hosts confirmed their 16-man squad for the first two Test matches, only for Virat Kohli to withdraw due to undisclosed personal reasons.
India's 16-man squad for the first two Tests
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashavi Jaiswal, virat kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Dhruv Gurriel (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Avish Khan, Rajat Patidar
What are the testing locations and stadiums?
Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium/Opal Stadium
location: Hyderabad
Established: 2003
capacity: 55000
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