Fans of Ruturaj Gaikwad will be
disappointed as the Indian batter has been ruled out of the upcoming two-match
Test series against South Africa, declared the Board of Control for Cricket in
India or BCCI) on Saturday.
India and South Africa’s first Test of
the two-match series will commence on Boxing Day at the Centurion, with the
second Test set to begin in Capetown on 3 January.
Ruturaj Gaikwad suffered an injury on his
right ring finger while fielding in the second ODI against South Africa in
Gqeberha.
After he underwent scans and consulted expert,
the BCCI Medical Team ruled him out of the remainder of the cricketing event. Gaikwad
is replaced by Abhimanyu Easwaran in the team.
BCCI stated Ruturaj “will be reporting to
the National Cricket Academy or NCA for further management of his injury”.
The opener couldn’t participate in the
third and final ODI against the Proteas due to a finger injury on Thursday. Rajat
Patidar had replaced him, making his debut in the ODI event.
In another development, fast bowler
Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the four-day match against South Africa A owing
to a hamstring injury. The match will begin at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on
December 26.
The Selection Committee has included Rajat
Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Avesh Khan and Rinku Singh to India A’s squad while
Kuldeep Yadav has been released from the team.
India A’s Squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C),
Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel (wk),
Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Navdeep Saini, Akash Deep, Vidhwath
Kaverappa, Manav Suthar and Rinku Singh.
NE Watch Desk
