India opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has been officially ruled out of the three-match Test series against South Africa starting from December 26 onwards at Centurion. Gaikwad, who fractured his finger during the second ODI against South Africa, will therefore head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, BCCI has appointed Abhimanyu Easwaran as his replacement.
“Ruturaj Gaikwad suffered an injury to his right ring finger while fielding in the second ODI against South Africa in Jabrha. He underwent tests and after consulting experts, the BCCI medical team ruled him out for the rest of the tour,” he said. Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry Secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.
“He will report to the National Football League for further treatment of his injury. The men’s selection committee has appointed Abhimanyu Iswaran as his replacement,” the statement added.
Gaikwad featured in the first two ODIs of the three-match series, which India won 2-1. However, after sustaining a finger injury while playing in the second match, he was rested for the final match. He was also a member of the Indian team for the Test series.
The BCCI has also made beneficial changes to the India A squad. Harshit Rana has been ruled out of India A’s four-day tour match against South Africa A in Benoni from December 26 due to a hamstring injury, the statement added.
At the same time, the selection committee added middle-order batsman Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Avish Khan and Rinku Singh to the India A squad while Kuldeep Yadav was released.
Updated India A squad for the four-day match against SA A: Abhimanyu Iswaran (C), Sai Sudharsen, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Dhruv Gurel (WK), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Navdeep Saini, Akash. Deb, Vidhwath Kavirappa, Manav Suthar, Rinku Singh