Ruturaj Gaikwad ruled out of South Africa Test series, Abhimanyu Easwaran named replacement

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of the remainder of the South Africa tour, which includes the upcoming two-Test series, and Abhimanyu Easwaran has been named as his replacement.

Ruturaj suffered an injury to his right ring finger while fielding in the second ODI against South Africa in Gqeberha. He underwent scans, and following an expert consultation, the BCCI medical team ‘ruled him out of the remainder of the tour.’

In a statement from the board, the opener will be reporting to the NCA for further management of his injury.

In another development, fast bowler Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the four-day match against South Africa A starting on 26th December at Willowmoore Park in Benoni owing to a hamstring injury.

The selection committee has added Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Avesh Khan and Rinku Singh to the India A’s squad while Kuldeep Yadav has been released from the squad.

India A’s updated squad for four-day match against SA A: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Navdeep Saini, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Manav Suthar, Rinku Singh