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Murali Vijay will not play India’s first Test against Sri Lanka which starts on Wednesday, after having failed to recover from his hamstring injury in time, said Ravi Shastri. Vijay had been unable to come out to bat in India’s only tour match last week, but the team management had assured then that he would be fit in time.
Vijay has been India’s most trusted Test opener in the last few years, especially in overseas conditions where Indian wickets have fallen all around him. His last score was a fluent knock of 150 against Bangladesh at Fatullah. He averages 44.79 in the 16 Tests he played in the last two years.
In his absence, Lokesh Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are expected to open India’s innings at Galle. There has been a lot of competition for slots in the Indian batting order in recent times. Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are in contention for two middle order slots, provided captain Virat Kohli sticks to his favoured 5-bowler strategy.
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