Injury concerns are getting into headlines as Wriddhiman Saha has been ruled out of the historic test against Afghanistan, joining the list of injured players alongside Indian captain Virat Kohli. Saha picked the injury in the Qualifier 2 of recently concluded IPL, where he broke his thumb on a delivery bowled by Shivam Mavi.
In a media release issued by BCCI, the acting secretary, Amitabh Choudhary said, “Mr. Wriddhiman Saha suffered an injury to his right thumb while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the VIVO IPL Qualifier 2 against Kolkata Knight Riders on 25th May 2018 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. To determine the future course of injury management, Mr Saha will see a specialist and the BCCI Medical Team will continue to monitor his progress”
Saha has been India’s prime keeper since the retirement of MS Dhoni at the Australian tour of 2014.
According to a report by Indian express, the sources at SRH has informed BCCI that India’s number 1 test keeper was advised rest for five to six weeks to recover completely.
With 16 days to go for the historic test in Bengaluru, things looks difficult for Saha to get completely fit and make it to the India squad.
Possible Replacements.
Parthiv Patel
This Gujarat batsman has not been in the best of touch in the recently concluded IPL, scoring 153 runs in 6 matches and has also not been amongst the numbers in the Ranji trophy season this year, scoring 360 runs in 9 matches. However, considering his vast experience, he may be considered in the team.
Dinesh Karthik
DK has been supreme in this year’s IPL, guiding a young looking KKR to the playoffs. He also scored 498 runs in 16 matches. Karthik played just 1 match for Tamil Nadu in this year’s Ranji trophy but may be considered on the basis of his current form and the heroics in Nidahas trophy.
KL Rahul
This may come as a surprising decision for many but Rahul has kept the wicket for Karnataka on regular basis. He did a pretty good job for Kings XI Punjab, which consisted of spin wizards like Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Ravichandran Ashwin and an experiment against Afghanistan may not be a bad idea at all.
