India vs Bangladesh: Shami and Jadeja ruled out of Tests; BCCI names Saini, Saurabh as replacements

Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja were on Sunday officially ruled out of India’s upcoming Test series against Bangladesh due to injury, with the BCCI naming Saurabh Kumar and Navdeep Saini as their replacements.

Both left-arm spinner Kumar and seamer Saini are currently in Bangladesh, where they represented India A in the two unofficial Tests against Bangladesh A. Kumar was among the standout players from the Indian camp, collecting nine wickets (9/86) including five (5/63) in the second innings to nearly win the game for his side in the first of the two matches. He would then follow it up with 6/74 in Bangladesh A’s 2nd innings in the second game to help the Indians win by an innings and 123 runs.

While Jadeja has been out of action since the group stage of the Asia Cup, Mohammed Shami had arrived in Bangladesh with the rest of the India squad ahead of the one-day series, only to get ruled out last minute due to a shoulder injury. The BCCI would name Shahbaz Ahmed and Umran Malik as Jadeja and Shami’s replacements for the ODIs, with Shami heading to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for rehabilitation.

Read: Shami shares emotional post after getting ruled out of ODIs

The BCCI had earlier included Saurashtra pacer Jaydev Unadkat in the Test squad as well. Among the other changes to the squad is the inclusion of Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran in place of injured skipper Rohit Sharma. Easwaran led India A in the red-ball matches against Bangladesh A and was in stellar form with the bat, smashing a ton in each of his two outings (141 and 157).

Rohit had suffered an injury on his left thumb during the second ODI against Bangladesh and had missed out the series finale as a result, having travelled to the NCA for recovery. While the release from the board confirmed his absence from the first Test, the BCCI Medical Team will take a call on his participation in the second Test.

“India captain Rohit Sharma met with a specialist in Mumbai for his left thumb injury, which he sustained during the 2nd ODI against Bangladesh. He has been advised appropriate management for this injury and will not be available for the first Test against Bangladesh. The BCCI Medical Team will take a call on his availability for the second and final Test at a later stage,” the BCCI wrote in a release.

India will be aiming to put up a strong response in the Test leg of the Bangladesh tour that begins on Wednesday, 14 December at Chattogram’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. They had earlier put up a  disappointing show in the ODIs where they conceded the three-match series by losing the first two games in Dhaka by narrow margins of one wicket and five runs respectively.

The Men in Blue however, pulled off a clincal win in the final game, where Ishan Kishan’s scintillating 210 helped the visitors collect a commanding 227-run win.

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