India vice captain Rohit Sharma ruled out of SA Tests

INDIA'S newly appointed Test vice captain Rohit Sharma was on Monday (13) ruled out of the entire three-Test series in South Africa starting on Boxing Day (26) due to injury. The 34-year-old batter’s old hamstring injury resurfaced during Team India’s net session in Mumbai where he also received a blow on his hand.

India ‘A’ team captain Priyank Panchal was named as Sharma’s replacement opener in the series.

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“Team India Test vice-captain Rohit Sharma sustained a left hamstring injury during his training session here in Mumbai yesterday. He has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa. Priyank Panchal will replace Rohit Sharma in the Test squad,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed in a press release.

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The BCCI was yet to announce a stand-in vice captain but the post is likely to go to KL Rahul, who is the vice captain in the limited-over formats. Other contenders could be wicket-keeper-batter Rishabh Pant or veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Sharma was picked as the vice captain in the long format for the first time and he replaced Ajinkya Rahane, who has been out of form for a while now.

But could Sharma’s injury also force a change of leadership in the three one-day international matches that follow the Test series?

A senior BCCI official told the Press Trust of India, “Yes, Rohit did suffer an injury on his hand but even after that he had batted. So we can presume that hand injury isn’t serious. But thereafter, it seemed the old hamstring problem resurfaced once again and it might take some time before he is fully fit and available.

“They are trying to sort it out. Hamstring injuries normally take four weeks which could effectively rule him out of Test series.”

Priyank Panchal called as replacement

While the extent of Sharma’s injury was not very clear, a source close to him told PTI, “There are some issues but the medical team is trying to sort it out. Any hamstring injury, even the lowest grade takes a month to heal with rehabilitation sessions. In Tests we have Mayank Agarwal ready to open with KL Rahul, who could potentially be the vice captain.

“And now we have Priyank Panchal also as cover. We would be hoping that he is fit and ready for the ODI series,” the source added.

Panchal, who reported at the team hotel on Monday evening, recently toured South Africa with the ‘A’ team and even scored a 90. The 31-year-old has played 100 first-class games in which he has belted 24 hundreds. He was part of the Gujarat team which won the Ranji Trophy a few seasons ago under the captaincy of Parthiv Patel.

He was in the contest with Abhimanyu Easwaran for the reserve opener’s slot for the South Africa Tests and pipped the latter who batted at No.3 in the ‘A’ series.