Shikhar Dhawan Ruled Out Of First Test; Vijay, Rahul To Open

India opener, Shikhar Dhawan, has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa due to his ankle issue, a report in TOI confirms. It also adds that Murali Vijay and KL Rahul will open the innings in the first game of the series.

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Earlier, India Head Coach, Ravi Shastri had confirmed that it would be Vijay and Dhawan who would be opening the innings but with Dhawan being ruled out, the opportunity will come to Rahul, who lost his place to Vijay in the third Test against Sri Lanka this month.

Dhawan will be in contention to make a comeback for the second Test. Though he will be only given an opportunity if KL Rahul fails to score runs in the first Test. Should KL Rahul score runs in the first game, captain Virat Koli will surely hesitate to drop KL Rahul again.

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Indian team has reached South Africa yesterday (December 29) and is all set to start practising for the series from today. Shikhar Dhawan is unlikely to participate in the practice session, keeping in mind the injury concern which he if he is going through.

Meanwhile, South Africa have also announced their squad for the first Test of the series. Faf du Plessis will lead the side, taking over the captaincy from his stand-in AB de Villiers. Plessis missed the historical day-night Test against Zimbabwe due to viral fever. Along with him, Dale Steyn also missed the game due to the same reason.

Both of them have been named in the side. A fit-again Quinton de Kock has also been included. Chris Morris has also been included, replacing Duanne Olivier.

The first Test of the series starts on January 5. The second and third Test starts on January 13 and 24. A six-match ODI series and three-match T20I series will follow.

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