India’s Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul ruled out of second Test vs England | Cricket News
India’s Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been ruled out of the second Test against England through injury.
Spin-bowling all-rounder Jadeja suffered a hamstring strain while being run out by Ben Stokes on the fourth day of the first Test in Hyderabad as England secured a famous 28-run win.
Middle-order batter Rahul will also sit out the match in Vizag from Friday after complaining of right quadriceps pain.
Jadeja and Rahul’s injuries are further blows for India with Virat Kohli currently absent for personal reasons.
Middle-order batter Rahul (quad) will sit out second Test
Spin-bowling all-rounder Jadeja will miss the Vizag Test with a hamstring injury
Batter Sarfaraz Khan, left-arm spinner Sourabh Kumar and off-spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar have been added to the squad.
Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav could replace Jadeja in the XI, although that would significantly weaken the batting, while uncapped batter Rajat Patidar is Rahul’s likely replacement.
Former captain Kohli is missing at least the first two Tests of the five-game series, while India are also without seamer Mohammed Shami (ankle) and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who is recovering from the effects of a serious car crash in late 2022.
After the Vizag Test, there is a nine-day gap before the third game in Rajkot from February 15.
The series then moves on to Ranchi (February 23-27) before concluding in Dharamshala (March 7-11).
India have won 16 home Test series in a row since being beaten 2-1 by England in 2012, while their defeat to Stokes’ side in Hyderabad on Sunday – which came after they surrendered a 190-run lead on first innings – was just their fourth in their last 46 home Tests.
Meanwhile, seamer Jasprit Bumrah has been reprimanded by the International Cricket Council for stepping into the path of Ollie Pope during the first Test.
Bumrah admitted a level one charge of causing “inappropriate physical contact”, earning one demerit point and losing half of his match fee.
India squad for second Test vs England: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain) Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar.
Follow over-by-over text commentary from the second Test between India and England, in Vizag, live on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App from 3.30am on Friday (first ball at 4am).
