The Board of Control for Cricket in India, on Friday, called up pacer Avesh Khan to the Indian men’s squad for their second Test against South Africa.
Khan will replace fellow speedster Mohammed Shami, who had missed the opening Test in Centurion with an ankle injury.
Shami, who played the 2023 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup for India with the injury, was earlier named in the squad but his participation was subject to fitness. The BCCI had revealed his unavailabilty for Test series before the first match, but had not named any replacement then.
“Mohammed Shami whose participation in the Test series was subject to fitness has not been cleared by the BCCI Medical Team and the fast bowler is ruled out of the two Tests,” a statement from BCCI earlier this month read.
Khan’s inclusion in the the squad for the second Test comes on the back of his impressive performances in the preceding three-match One-Day International series.
The 27-year-old from Madhya Pradesh shone with six wickets in the series, including a match-winning 4/27 in eight overs in the opening ODI.
Khan’s addition in the squad comes just a day after India lost the first Test match by an innings and 32 runs in Centurion. Rohit Sharma and Co were also docked of two World Test Championships points and fined a 10% of match fee for their slow over rate during the match.
The second Test of the two-match series will be played from January 3 in Cape Town.