MAHARASHTRA: Indian Cricket team’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been rested for the upcoming first two Tests of the three-Test match series against Sri Lanka.
Pandya was earlier named in the squad, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in consultation with the Indian team management, decided to pull him out of the squad in wake of the injury he sustained in the series-deciding T20I match against New Zealand earlier this week.
The selection committee, in a media statement, said, “Considering Pandya’s heavy recent workload, the decision was made to negate any possibility of a major injury concern.”
“Pandya will undergo a period of strength at conditioning at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru,” the statement further read.
The Baroda player made his ODI debut for India against New Zealand in 2016 and scored 36 runs from 32 balls.
In 2017, the 24-year-old hit the fastest 43-ball 76 half-century in the final of the Champions Trophy and broke Adam Gilchrist's record for the fastest to get there in any ICC competition.
The series between India and Sri Lanka will begin on November 15, wherein the two teams will play three Tests, three ODIs and three T20I against each other.
India Test squad for the first two Tests: Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.