Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the second Test against Bangladesh after failing to fully recover from a thumb injury. He injured his left thumb while fielding in the second match of the ODI series before the Test series. The Indian team lost the ODI series 1–2. Rohit has flown to Mumbai for treatment of the injury and is under the supervision of the BCCI Medical Committee. Apart from Rohit, fast bowler Navdeep Saini has also been ruled out of this match due to abdominal strain.
According to a statement released from the BCCI, “The medical team believes that the Indian captain needs some more time to bat and field at his full fitness. He will continue his rehabilitation and will not be available for the second and final Test against Bangladesh. He said, “Navdeep Saini has also been ruled out of the second Test due to abdominal strain. The fast bowler will now go to the NCA (National Cricket Academy) for further management of his injury. The team management doesn’t want to take the risk of playing Rohit considering the Indian team’s busy home season.
India has to play limited overs series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand next month. After this, the Australian team will visit India for a four-Test series. Saini’s injury has raised many questions on his fitness. He represented India A in two matches in Bangladesh before the Tests and was deemed fit. He didn’t play the first test. Saini played his last Test match against Australia in Brisbane in January last year. India won the first Test match played in Chittagong under the leadership of Lokesh Rahul by 188 runs.
He will once again lead the team while Cheteshwar Pujara will be the vice-captain of the team. Indian squad for second Test: Lokesh Rahul (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat.
