Injured Rohit Sharma out of first Test against Bangladesh, Easwaran named his replacement

Chattogram, Dec. 11 (PTI): India captain Rohit Sharma was on Sunday ruled out of the first Test against Bangladesh, starting here on Wednesday, due to a thumb injury.

Rohit had gone back to India after hurting his left thumb while fielding in the second ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur on December 7. K L Rahul will captain the side in Rohit’s absence. Abhimanyu Easwaran has been named as Rohit’s replacement.

“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 appropriate management for this injury and will not be available for the first Test against Bangladesh,” the BCCI said in a statement.

“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.”

The second Test begins in Mirpur on December 22 and Rohit will be racing against time to get fit for the match.

Easwaran comes into the side after scoring 299 runs in two games for the India ‘A’ side currently touring Bangladesh.

Pacer Navdeep Saini and uncapped Saurabh Kumar were named as replacements for injured Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja. Left-arm spinner Saurabh was the leading wicket-taker in the A series against Bangladesh with 15 wickets while Saini took six in the two first-class games.

Saini had last played for India in the famous Test in Brisbane in January 2021.

Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat, who played his only Test 12 years ago, has also been added to the India squad.

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