IND vs BAN: After Rohit Sharma suffered a thumb injury during the second ODI, Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran is expected to be called up to the Indian Test squad. Rohit has travelled to Mumbai for medical consultation, according to BCCI secretary Jay Shah, and a final confirmation of his availability for the Tests is pending. The two-match Test series in Bangladesh begins on December 14, thus it is quite unlikely that Rohit would be able to make it back in time for the opening game.
Notably, Easwaran led the India-A team on Bangladesh A trip, which was held concurrently with the ODI series. The 27-year-old has consistently competed for his state team Bengal in the domestic circuit, with scores of 141 and 157 in his most recent two innings. Easwaran has demonstrated his eligibility for an India cap with 5576 runs in 78 first-class games at an average of 45.33. According to sources from ESPNcricinfo, the selectors have officially called him up to the squad.
The 27-year-old travelled to England with the team despite spending some time on the periphery of India’s Test team. Despite the regular openers being injured, KL Rahul was given the chance, but he was unable to secure a spot in the starting lineup. Easwaran, however, is anticipated to serve as the backup opener for the Test matches given his current performance, with KL Rahul and Shubman Gill likely to start.
Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja are also likely to miss the Tests due to their individual injuries, in addition to Rohit Sharma, with Navdeep Saini and Saurabh Kumar likely to be brought in as substitutes.
India’s Test squad for Bangladesh Tests:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
