Uncapped opener Easwaran replaces injured Rohit in squad for 1st Test; KL Rahul to lead

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the upcoming 1st Test between Team India and hosts Bangladesh, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed on Sunday. India's all-format captain sustained an injury on his left thumb during the 2nd One Day International (ODI) against the Litton Das-led side. The veteran Indian opener missed the third and final ODI of the three-match series between the two teams due to the same injury on Saturday.

Confirming Rohit's ouster from India's squad for the 1st Test against hosts Bangladesh on Sunday, the apex cricket board of India has also revealed that senior pacer Mohammed Shami and veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja are ruled out of the entire red-ball series. Navdeep Saini and Saurabh Kumar have replaced Shami and Jadeja while Abhimanyu Easwaran has been named as the replacement for injured Indian skipper Rohit for the 1st Test against Bangladesh.

The uncapped Bengal opener captained India A for the team's two-match red-ball series against Bangladesh A. The latest addition to the Indian Test side registered noteworthy scores of 141 and 157 in his two innings. Easwaran was named the Player of the Match for his stellar knock of 157 against Bangladesh A. Easwaran was also a part of India's Test squad for the England tour in 2021.

Indian vice-captain KL Rahul will lead the visitors in the series opener against Bangladesh. Opener Rahul made his Test captaincy debut against South Africa in Johannesburg earlier this year. The premier batter had scored a sublime half-century on his Test captaincy debut for the Asian giants. However, Rohit-led India were outplayed by the Proteas in the Johannesburg Test match.

Sharing an update on Rohit's thumb injury, the BCCI stated that the injured Indian skipper met with a specialist in Mumbai. The senior batter has been advised of appropriate management for his injury and the BCCI Medical Team will take a call on his availability for the second and final Test at a later stage.

As per the media release shared by the BCCI, pacer Shami and all-rounder Jadeja are yet to recover from their respective shoulder and knee injuries. Uttar Pradesh spinner Saurabh is roped in as a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja. Saurabh and Saini played for India A in the Bangladesh tour. Speed merchant Saini has featured in 2 Test matches for Team India.

The Indian selection committee has also added fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat to Team India's squad for the Test series. The Virat Kohli-starrer Team India is scheduled to play the series opener at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Wednesday. The second and final Test will be played at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on December 22 (Thursday).

India's updated squad for Bangladesh Tests: KL Rahul (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat.