BAN vs IND 2022-23: Rohit Sharma ruled out of 1st Test with thumb injury; KL Rahul to lead

In what can be considered a significant setback for Team India, senior skipper-cum-opener Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the opening Test against Bangladesh to be played from Wednesday at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. He had suffered a thumb injury while fielding during the second One-Day International (ODI) last week against the same side at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. He had split his webbing and visited a hospital during the game, which he mostly missed as he received stitches. While he returned to bat at number seven, he failed to steer his side home as the Men in Blue succumbed to a series loss.

On Sunday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued an update, stating that Rohit is not medically cleared to compete and would not be featuring in the opening Test. Also, senior seamer Mohammed Shami and senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja are yet to recover from their injuries, which led them to be ruled out.

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“India captain Rohit Sharma met with a specialist in Mumbai for his left thumb injury, which he sustained during the 2nd ODI against Bangladesh. He has been advised of appropriate management for this injury and will not be available for the first Test against Bangladesh. The BCCI Medical Team will take a call on his availability for the second and final Test at a later stage. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Abhimanyu Easwaran as his replacement for the first Test,” read BCCI’s statement.

“Fast bowler Mohd. Shami and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have yet to recover from their respective shoulder and knee injuries fully and are ruled out of the Test series. The selectors have named Navdeep Saini and Saurabh Kumar as replacements for Shami and Jadeja, respectively. The selection committee has also added fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat to India’s squad for the Test series,” BCCI’s release added.

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Updated India’s squad for Bangladesh Tests: KL Rahul (c & wk), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar and Jaydev Unadkat.