India vs South Africa: Ruturaj Gaikwad ruled out of Test series, Abhimanyu Easwaran named as replacement

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of the two-match Test series against South Africa due to a finger injury, the BCCI confirmed on Saturday. He suffered an injury to his right ring finger while fielding in the second ODI against South Africa in Gqeberha. As per the BCCI statement, Gaikwad “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. The Test series starts on 26 December at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Fast bowler Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the four-day match against South Africa A starting on 26th December at Willowmoore Park in Benoni owing to a hamstring injury. The selection committee has added Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Avesh Khan and Rinku Singh to India A’s squad while Kuldeep Yadav has been released from the squad. India’s updated Test Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk). 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