Wriddhiman Saha suffered an injury during the second qualifier match of the Indian Premier League.
Dinesh Karthik (Photo: BCCI)
Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has replaced injured Wriddhiman Saha in the Indian squad for the one-off historic Test against Afghanistan. The match will be played in Bengaluru from June 14.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to the micro-blogging site, Twitter to update about the changes in the Indian squad and wrote, ” UPDATE: Wriddhiman Saha ruled out of the @paytm Afghanistan Test.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named @DineshKarthik as the replacement. #INDvAFG #TeamIndia.”
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Wriddhiman Saha suffered an injury during the second qualifier match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between SunRisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 25 and his participation in Afghanistan’s debut Test was under the cloud.
According to sources close to the selection committee, MSK Prasad and Co are looking at the England tour, where Karthik could make the cut in the longest format also.
It must be mentioned that Karthik was a surprise success when he played Test cricket in England in 2007. He had three half-centuries — 60 at Lord’s, 77 at Nottingham and 91 at the Oval.
Karthik had last played a Test match way back in 2010 against Bangladesh but has had a prolific first-class record with 27 hundreds and over 9,000 runs. In 23 Tests for India, he has scored 1,000 runs with a hundred and seven half-centuries.
Earlier, opener Lokesh Rahul had said that he is ready to take on the role of the gloves-man if the team demands.
“I am always open to the challenge of dual responsibility. I have been training hard and will take up the role if the team demands the same,” Rahul, who is also a wicket-keeper, said.
-With PTI inputs.
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