CHENNAI: Opener Rohit Sharma will miss all the three Tests against South Africa after injuring his left hamstring in a training session at Mumbai on Sunday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have drafted in replacement Priyank Panchal, the Gujarat opener who led the India ‘A’ side in two of the three four-day games during their tour of South Africa recently.
Rohit’s place in the XI, though, will likely be filled by Mayank Agarwal. KL Rahul will be the other first choice opener. “Team India Test vicecaptain Rohit Sharma sustained a left hamstring injury during his training session here in Mumbai yesterday (Sunday),” a press release from BCCI said. “He has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa.
Priyank Panchal will replace Rohit in the Test squad.” The vice-captain’s (BCCI haven’t named a deputy for the Test series) absence will be a big blow because he has been the most consistent Indian batter in the longest format in 2021. In 11 Tests, he has accumulated 906 runs at an average of 47.68. That’s 200 more than Rishabh Pant. In fact, Rohit and Pant are the only two players in the side to average more than 40 in Tests this year. Even if Panchal may not have been the obvious choice for a replacement, he does have knowledge of the environment, having played in South Africa recently (he made scores of 96, 24 and 0).
The side also know him as the 31-year-old was part of the extended contingent that faced England at home. The Gujarat batter was a standby for the first two Tests at Chennai. The Ranji Trophy-winner has also compiled some decent numbers in domestic cricket, in 100 first-class matches he has 7011 runs at an average of 45.52. Interestingly, Panchal is already in India unlike the likes of Hanuma Vihari who was asked to stay back by the BCCI following the shadow tour which finished this month.
Team staying in Gauteng
The team itself is scheduled to fly out from Mumbai on Thursday after completing a threeday quarantine in a city hotel. Upon landing in the country, they will be housed at the Irene County Lodge in Gauteng. The place, reportedly favoured by the hosts to stay during matches, is already in lockdown.
“The plush Irene Country Lodge in Centurion has gone into full lockdown in preparation to host India for the Gauteng leg of the Test tour against SA later this month,” a timeslive.co. za report mentioned. The place’s MD, Anwar Karrim, was quoted as saying: “We have done this before and we are looking forward to hosting India. It’s a real privilege.
As far as the bio-bubble is concerned, the hotel is on lockdown to the public as we speak. You must remember that in two previous bio-bubbles we hosted we were at the height of Covid- 19. I recall that when Sri Lanka were here last year, we were in a stricter lockdown. But there is no distinction between the previous bio-bubbles and this one.”
DE KOCK SET TO MISS THIRD TEST
South Africa’s wicketkeeperbatter Quinton de Kock is set to miss the third Test of the upcoming series against India due to the birth of his first child. A media report on Monday said that De Kock’s wife Sasha is expected to give birth to a child in early January, and given the bio-bubble and other restrictions in place, he might miss the second game as well. According to the report, South Africa’s selection convener Victor Mpitsang expects de Kock “to miss the last Test”. South Africa are due to host India in a three-match Test series beginning December 26 at Centurion. The second Test is scheduled to start on January 3 in Johannesburg, while the final match is slated for a January 11 start in Cape Town. The teams will then play three ODIs. De Kock last featured for South Africa at the T20 World Cup in the UAE, where he pulled out of their second group game following a Cricket South Africa (CSA) directive to take a knee in support of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement.