Amid reports of India captain Rohit Sharma being ruled out of the two-match Test series starting with a dislocated left thumb, BCCI secretary Jay Shah shared an official update on the opener's fitness. Shah echoed head coach Rahul Dravid's words and confirmed that Rohit has flown back to Mumbai to consult a specialist and will miss the third and final ODI on Saturday but a call on his availability for the Test series starting December 14, will be taken later.
"The BCCI Medical Team assessed him and he underwent scans at a local hospital in Dhaka. He has flown to Mumbai for specialist consultation and will miss the final ODI. A call on his availability for the upcoming Test series will be taken later," Shah stated in a press release.
Though the BCCI chose to keep the cards close to their chest, it would need a miracle for Rohit to regain full fitness and join the squad back in time for the Test series. A dislocated finger generally takes at least two weeks to heal and on top of it all, the India captain also suffered a cut which required stitches.
Rohit did come out to bat with a heavily taped-up thumb to try and win the match and keep the series alive in the second ODI but it is unlikely a similar risk would be taken for the Test series keeping India's busy home schedule with the series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia in mind.
If Rohit does not recover then KL Rahul will lead India in the Test series and Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is currently in Bangladesh with the India A squad, will be added to the squad as a backup opener.
{{/usCountry}}If Rohit does not recover then KL Rahul will lead India in the Test series and Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is currently in Bangladesh with the India A squad, will be added to the squad as a backup opener.
{{/usCountry}}There are injury concerns over senior cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami too. The duo were supposed to be there for the ODI series but were ruled out due to injuries. If they also don't join the squad then doors might open a few more India A cricketers. Pacers Navdeep Saini, and Mukesh Kumar have done really well in the two unofficial Tests and so has left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar.