Ruturaj Gaikwad out of Test series; Abhimanyu Easwaran will take place

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Centurion. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of India’s upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa due to a finger injury. Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is currently in South Africa as part of the India A team, has been named as Gaikwad’s replacement.

Gaikwad injured his right ring finger while fielding during India’s second ODI against South Africa at Gkebarha. The BCCI said Gaikwad underwent a scan and after expert consultation, the medical team has ruled him out of the remainder of the tour. Gaikwad will report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for further management of his injury.

Bengal’s brilliant opening batsman Easwaran was earlier a part of India’s Test tour of Bangladesh last year in place of injured captain Rohit Sharma. A regular player for the India ‘A’ team, Easwaran was named as one of the five standby players in India’s Test squad for their home series against England in 2021.

He was also named as one of four standby players in India’s Test squad for the final of the 2021 ICC World Test Championship and for the team’s overseas series against England later in the year.

Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal will remain as the first-choice opening pair for the series opener starting on Boxing Day (26 December) in Centurion, while Easwaran will captain India A in the second four-day match against South Africa A, scheduled The start will also take place on the same day at Willowmoor Park in Benoni. He is expected to join up with the Test team ahead of the Cape Town Test to be held from January 3-7, 2024.

The BCCI further said that it has included Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Avesh Khan and Rinku Singh in the Easwaran-led India A squad for the four-day match against South Africa ‘A’, while fast bowler Harshit Rana Has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury. Kuldeep Yadav was dropped from the team due to injury.

The South Africa tour is India’s second series of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle, after winning the two-Test series 1-0 in the West Indies in July. The last time India played a Test series in South Africa was in December 2021-January 2022.

At that time, India won the first Test in Centurion, South Africa bounced back by winning matches in Johannesburg and Cape Town and eventually won the series 2–1, increasing India’s quest for its first Test series win in South Africa.

India were practicing in Pretoria for the Test series against South Africa and even played a three-day intra-squad practice match under the supervision of the support staff led by Rahul Dravid. Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (recently led India to a 2-1 ODI series win) and Jasprit Bumrah will be returning to Test cricket after a long time off due to various injuries.

India’s updated Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah. (Vice-Captain), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (Wicketkeeper)

India A’s updated squad for the four-day match against South Africa A: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Sai Sudarshan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Verma, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Navdeep Saini, Akash Deep, Vidhath Kawarappa, Manav Suthar, Rinku Singh

–IANS

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