IND vs SA: Abhimanyu Easwaran To Replace Injured Ruturaj Gaikwad For South Africa Test Series: Reports

As per reports, Indian cricketer Abhimanyu Easwaran will be replacing Ruturaj Gaikwad who has been ruled out of the South Africa Test series with a finger injury. Gaikwad did not play the third ODI between India and South Africa in Paarl.

The right-hander suffered a finger injury during the second ODI as he missed a catch in the slip cordon while fielding. He did not recover in time to join the squad for the third ODI and was eventually ruled out from the Test series.

The BCCI medical team released a statement after an assessment and also confirmed that he would not be fit in time to participate in the Test series.

“(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 BCCI stated before the start of the third and final ODI on Thursday.

Reports now emerge that Easwaran is most likely to replace Gaikwad in the Indian Test squad or the two-match Test series. The batter scored crucial runs in the Intra-Squad practice game to give a glimpse of his talent. Sarfaraz Khan also scored a few runs while Shubman Gill scored a ton and Yashasvi Jaisal scored a fifty.

Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian side in the Test series. He asked for a break from white-ball cricket alongside Virat Kohli and the senior duo will be back in the Indian squad in the Test series.

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Easwaran, meanwhile, has been a veteran in domestic cricket scoring tons of runs year after year. The prolific batter has scored over 6500 first-class runs and nearly 4000 List-A runs. He is also inching closer to 1000 T20 runs in domestic cricket. Overall, he has scored nearly 10000 runs in domestic cricket but is still awaiting his maiden Test, ODI, and T20I cap for India.

Abhimanyu Easwaran Dreams To Play For India

Easwaran was a standby in the Indian WTC final 2021 squad. India. The Bengal batter is currently with the India A side touring South Africa. Speaking to PTI recently, Easwaran said that his only dream is to play for India, and will keep pushing for it.

”To play for the country is the ultimate goal of any player who picks up the bat or the ball. People talk about me as an Indian cricketer but I haven’t made my debut yet. I hope that happens soon” Easwaran said.

”I have only one dream, that is to play for my country. I will not give up on it that easily. I will keep pushing for it. I will be making sure that I am well prepared for it. I hope that I will play for the country soon,” said Easwaran.

The batter was ruled out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a split webbing. He is expecting to get fit by the time the first Test starts. The opening Test between India and South Africa is set to start on December 26 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.

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