India’s all-format captain Rohit Sharma will continue to miss the Test series against Bangladesh as the Board of Control for Cricket in India said that he needed more time to recover from a hand injury.
KL Rahul will lead the side again.
Sharma injured his left thumb while fielding in the second ODI against Bangladesh on December 7 and later came out to bat at No 9 to try and save the series. India had lost the ODI series 1-2. He then met with a specialist in Mumbai for his left thumb injury, and was ruled out originally from the first Test.
“Rohit Sharma is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team who are of the opinion that the injury needs some more time to heal completely before the Indian captain can bat and field with full intensity,” the board said in a statement. “He will continue his rehab and will not be available for the second and final Test against Bangladesh.”
Pacer Navdeep Saini is also ruled out of the second Test owing to an abdominal muscle strain. The fast bowler will now report to the NCA for further management of his injury, the BCCI statement added.
Shubman Gill opened the batting with stand-in captain Rahul. While Rahul had a disappointing Test with the bat, Gill went on to score his first Test century in the second innings.
India won the first Test by 188 runs in Chattogram and earned crucial points in the ICC World Test Championships table. They are now second in the standings after South Africa’s defeat in Australia in the opening Test.
India’s updated squad for 2nd Test against Bangladesh: 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, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat