The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has released an official statement that India’s Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha will miss the historic one-off Test match against Afghanistan due to an injury.
Cricket news: If the replaced player performs well, he will be India’s backup option for the England tour
Saha, who had played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, had received an injury to his right thumb while facing Kolkata Knights Riders’ bowler Shivam Mavi during the second qualifier game.
He had previously missed a lot of games in the latter phase of the IPL due to his injury. Moreover he had returned from South Africa after playing for just one Test.
Parthiv Patel, who was selected as the backup option for the South Africa tour, had played in the remaining of the two Test matches.
BCCI has recently named Dinesh Karthik as the replacement for the wicketkeeper-batsman for the historic Test match which would be played in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
BCCI also stated that the wicketkeeper from Bengal should be given adequate rest before India tours England for the all-important five-match Test series.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Mr Dinesh Karthik as the replacement for injured Saha. Saha’s recovery period is expected to be around five to six weeks,” the statement read.
Karthik had last played the red-ball format way back in 2010, when he faced Bangladesh at Chittagong. Currently Karthik is in the prime form of his life, scoring the match-winning innings in the Nidahas Trophy final and later captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders team to the IPL second qualifier match.
He has already made his comeback in the limited overs format and will be itching to carve his name in the longer format of the game as well. If he performs well and manages to impress the selectors, he might be selected as a backup option for the England tour.