New Delhi. According to media reports, Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of both the test matches against South Africa. Meanwhile, captain Virat Kohli has suddenly returned to Mumbai from South Africa. Kohli is currently not taking part in the three-day intra-squad practice match being held in Pretoria. If he does not return for the Test series, it will be a big blow for Team India, although BCCI has not officially confirmed it. Kohli had left for Mumbai three days ago after taking permission from the team management and BCCI. He did not take part in the practice match in Pretoria citing a family emergency as the reason. He is expected to return to Johannesburg on Friday (22 December) and be available for the series starting in Centurion on 26 December.
On the other hand, young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has suffered a finger injury and has been given leave from the Indian team management in South Africa. Gaikwad suffered a finger injury during the second ODI against South Africa in Port Elizabeth on 19 December. BCCI sources said that he would not be able to recover in time for either of the two Test matches, due to which the decision was taken to release him. It is expected that he will return to India by Saturday.
In the absence of Kohli and Gaikwad, the Indian team has been performing well in the three-day intra-squad practice matches. Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran rose to the occasion and captain Rohit Sharma along with bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur showed effectiveness. The first Test between India and South Africa is scheduled to start from December 26 in Centurion. The three-day intra-squad practice matches will end on Friday, and all the Indian players will assemble in Johannesburg before heading to Centurion for the Test series.
Indian Test Team: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (sub- Captain), famous Krishna.
South African Test team: Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Nandre Berger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony De Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Keegan Pietersen, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne.