India suffered a blow on Monday when spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batter KL Rahul were ruled out of the second Test against England in Vizag, starting February 2 confirmed the The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday.
Jadeja sustained a hamstring injury during play on day four of the first Test in Hyderabad while Rahul complained of a right quadriceps pain. The men's selection committee have added Sarfaraz Khan, Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar to India's squad.
Jadeja had attempted a quick single during India's second innings but was caught off guard by a direct hit from English skipper Ben Stokes. Jadeja was seen cradling his hamstring after that.
BCCI stated in a release that the board’s medical team will be monitoring the progress of the duo.
The Indian test team lost the first match in Hyderabad by 28 runs and were already missing one of their key batters Virat Kohli, who had also withdrawn from the second Test due to personal reasons.
It appears that India will indeed have to hand a Test debut to batters Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz Khan to bolster the middle order.
Khan joins the team having just finished an explosive 160-ball 161 against the England Lions in last week's second unofficial Test. With a fifer in the second innings, Saurabh Kumar contributed significantly to the home team's win in that particular innings as well.
Meanwhile, Saransh Jain has been named as a replacement for Washington Sundar in the India A squad for the third and final multi-day game against England Lions starting February 1 in Ahmedabad.
Additionally, Avesh Khan will continue to travel with his Ranji Trophy team, Madhya Pradesh and will join the Test squad if required.
India's updated Squad for 2nd Test vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar.