SA vs IND: Virat Kohli returns home due to family emergency; Ruturaj Gaikwad ruled out of South Africa Tests
Kohli returns home due to family emergency; Gaikwad ruled out of SA Tests
India batting great Virat Kohli returned home shortly after landing in South Africa due to a family emergency. Opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad also got ruled out of the Test series due to a finger injury. The sources close to the information revealed that Ruturaj failed to recover in time and thus was released from the Test squad.
Although there is no clarity around the nature of the emergency, an unnamed BCCI source admitted Virat will return on Friday (Dec 22) in Johannesburg, rejoining the Indian Team in their preparation for the first Test in Centurion on Boxing Day.
Following obtaining permission from the BCCI and the team management, Virat flew to Mumbai three days ago, skipping the three-day warm-up game in Pretoria involving all Test-bound players.
Meanwhile, BCCI released a statement on Ruturaj, who suffered a finger injury during the second ODI in Port Elizabeth and is currently under the medical team’s supervision.
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"(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 Indian cricket board stated ahead of the third and final one-dayer.
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After consulting the BCCI, the team management decided to release Gaikwad from the squad, as he is expected to reach India on Saturday (Dec 23). The Indian board hasn’t named any replacement yet.
Indian players on a roll in warm-up game
Several Indian players, mainly Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran, made most of the given opportunity, whereas, a few others, including Captain Rohit Sharma, seamers Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur, looked impressive.
Following the final ODI that concluded on Thursday, all Test-bound players will assemble in Johannesburg and travel to Centurion for the first Test.
Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna
