Team India incurred a huge blow just three days before the start of the second Test against England as all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batter KL Rahul have been ruled out of the contest at the Dr. Y.S.Rajashekar Reddy ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. BCCI’s selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, have hence made wholesome changes to the squad for the second Test, adding three players, two of whom could possibly make a debut for India in the next match.
According to the BCCI release, Jadeja sustained a hamstring injury on the fourth day of the first Test against England in Hyderabad, while Rahul complained of right quadriceps pain. “The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring the progress of the duo,” the statement further added.
BCCI’s selectors have added three players – Sarfaraz Khan, Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar – to the India squad for the second Test.
The announcement marked the end of Sarfaraz’s long wait for a maiden India call-up. The batter, who has been constantly knocking at the selectors’ doors, had put on an impressive show for India A against the England Lions in the 4-day unofficial Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where he won the Player of the Match award after scoring 161 runs in 160 balls, laced with 18 fours and 5 sixes. He currently averages 69.85, with 14 centuries in 45 games in first-class cricket.
The aforementioned match also included Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh, who has the experience of 290 first-class wickets at 24.41. This was his second India call-up having previously been part of the squad for the tour of Bangladesh in 2022, although he is yet to make his debut. Saurabh heads into the India squad on the back a stellar show against England Lions where he picked up a second-innings five-wicket haul in India A’s win earlier this week.
India’s updated Squad for 2nd Test vs England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar.
Meanwhile, Saransh Jain has been named as a replacement for Sundar in the India A squad for the third and final multi-day game against England Lions starting February 1 in Ahmedabad. Avesh Khan, on the other hand, will continue to travel with the Madhya Pradesh Ranji Trophy team and will join the India Test squad if required.
