Abhimanyu Easwaran replaces injured Ruturaj Gaikwad for Test series against South Africa 

Abhimanyu Easwaran has been named as Ruturaj Gaikwad’s replacement in the Indian squad for the two-match Test series in South Africa. Gaikwad hurt his right ring finger while fielding in the second ODI against South Africa in Gqeberha. As a result, he has been ruled out of the Test series against the Proteas.

India, who drew the T20I series 1-1 and won the ODI series 2-1, will take on South Africa in a two-match Test series. The first Test will be played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion from December 26 to 30. The second Test will be held next month from January 3 to 7 at Newlands in Cape Town.

Releasing an official statement over the change in the Indian Test squad on Saturday, December 23, BCCI said:

“Ruturaj Gaikwad suffered an injury to his right ring finger while fielding in the second ODI against South Africa in Gqeberha. He underwent scans, and following an expert consultation, the BCCI Medical Team has ruled him out of the remainder of the tour. He will be reporting to the NCA for further management of his injury. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Abhimanyu Easwaran as his replacement.”

26-year-old Gaikwad has played six ODIs and 19 T20Is for India, scoring 115 and 500 runs, respectively. However, he is yet to make his Test debut. Easwaran, who has been on the fringes for a few seasons, has the experience of 88 first-class matches in which he has scored 6567 runs at an average of 47.24 with 26 fifties and 22 hundreds.

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Harshit Rana ruled out of the four-day match against South Africa A

There are some changes in the India A squad as well that will take on South Africa A in a four-day game starting December 26 at Willowmoore Park in Benoni. Pacer bowler Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the match due to a hamstring injury.

The selection committee has added Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Avesh Khan, and Rinku Singh to India A’s squad. On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav has been released from the squad.

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India A’s updated squad for four-day match against SA A: 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, Rinku Singh.