India vs South Africa, 1st Test match: After clinching the One Day International (ODI) series on Thursday, the next aim Team India has in mind is to create history by winning a Test series in South Africa. The selectors have carefully chosen the squad for the two Test matches beginning from Tuesday (26 December), but the plans might get disrupted as India’s star Virat Kohli had to fly back home due to some emergency in his family.
The BCCI sources claimed that Virat Kohli is expected to be back before the first Test match on 26 December, but didn’t reveal much on the nature of the emergency. In another piece of news for Team India’s Test squad, opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was released due to his finger injury. The young Indian opener was injured during the second ODI and remained off the field during the third ODI as Rajat Patidar made his ODI debut in his absence.
“(He) hasn’t fully recovered from the blow he sustained to his ring finger while fielding in the second ODI. He remains under the supervision of the BCCI Medical Team,” the BCCI statement said before the start of the ODI series decider in Paarl.
A Cricbuzz report quoted reliable BCCI sources who informed that Gaikwad is released from the squad.
Multiple changes in Team India’s squad
In the South Africa series, Team India had to make multiple changes in the squad as earlier India’s pacer Deepak Chahar had to pull out from the ODI series due to some family emergency. India’s star pacer Mohammed Shami was also ruled out from the Test series due to an ankle injury. India’s young batter Ishan Kishan was also released from the squad after he “requested the BCCI to be released from the upcoming Test series against South Africa citing personal reasons”.
Team India is doing well and the weight of the World Cup final loss is not visible on the shoulders of the team. But, such sudden changes in the squad impact the overall strategy of the team and provide the opposition with some psychological advantage.
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Published: 22 Dec 2023, 04:25 PM IST