The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on December 20, 2022, confirmed that regular captain Rohit Sharma will miss the second and final Test against Bangladesh to be played in Dhaka from December 22 as he is yet to fully recover from his thumb injury.
Rohit had hurt his thumb on the left hand while fielding in slips during the second ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka and had left the field immediately for scans. He did come out to bat lower in the batting order as India tried to chase down 272 runs set by Bangladesh.
He scored an unbeaten half-century as the Men in Blue fell short by just 5 runs. He revealed that his thumb was dislocated and had some tendon injury. He flew back to Mumbai after that match for a doctor’s consultation.
KL Rahul captained the team in the third ODI and the first Test in Chattogram in his stead and it was expected that Rohit might come back for the second Test. However, the BCCI has confirmed that Rohit will instead continue his rehab and will not play in the second Test against Bangladesh.
“Rohit Sharma is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team following his left thumb injury, which he sustained during the 2nd ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka. The Medical Team is of the opinion that the injury needs some more time to heal completely before the Indian captain can bat and field with full intensity. He will continue his rehab and will not be available for the second and final Test against Bangladesh,” BCCI said in a statement.
Apart from Rohit, pace Navdeep Saini, who was included in the Indian squad for the two-Test series as a replacement for Mohammad Shami, has also been ruled out of contention for the second Test match, after suffering from an abdominal muscle strain.
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The BCCI confirmed this development and revealed that Saini will now report to the NCA for further management of his injury.
India has fast bowling options in Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat to choose from in case India needs a third pacer in the second Test match.
Here is the updated Indian squad for the second Test in Dhaka:
KL Rahul (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat
(BCCI inputs)
