Injured Wriddhiman Saha in Doubt for England Tests, Dinesh Karthik Likely Replacement
Monday, July 16, 2018 IST
New Delhi: India’s first choice wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha is unlikely to make the cut for the Test series in England. Saha had injured his thumb during the IPL and while it was initially believed that he would be fit in four to five weeks, the recovery hasn’t gone as per plan and he was seen sporting a soft plaster even last week. Dinesh Karthik, who stepped in for Saha for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, is likely to continue in the role.
Saha has lost the battle to get fit in time for either the four-day ‘unofficial’ Test against England Lions from Monday at Worcester or the four-day warm-up match against Essex, which starts on July 25 in Chelmsford. The team management has been very vocal about players acclimatising to conditions before taking the field for the senior team and that is the reason some of the top-order batsmen are expected to play in the India ‘A’ game.
Speaking to CricketNext, a source in the know of developments said that more than the healing of the thumb, the lack of match practice was also something that makes it difficult for the player to make the Test squad for the first match of the series in Edgbaston from August 1.
“Saha’s injury hasn’t healed as per plan and to be fair there isn’t a chance that he would be match-fit when the team takes the field in the first game. Even though he was working on his fitness all this while, he could not keep wickets or bat with the soft plaster on. Game time is also something that the current management is looking into and it has been a while since Saha last played any form of cricket.
“Some of the Test specialists are already in England and will be a part of the unofficial Test against the England Lions and Saha now doesn’t look like he will make it even for the Essex game. In such a circumstance it is only fair that someone like Karthik gets his chance as the player has been with the team and is aware of the conditions on offer. Also, he was the one called in to replace Saha for the Afghanistan Test,” he said.
The selectors are expected to pick the squad after the ongoing ODI series and could even wait for the unofficial Test to get over on July 19 before announcing the squad.
Another selection dilemma will be whether to go ahead and bring back fit-again pacer Mohammed Shami, especially with Jasprit Bumrah set to miss the first Test and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar suffering from a bad back. Shami passed the Yo-Yo test a couple of weeks back after failing to clear it before the Afghanistan Test.
Related Topics
Related News & Articles
Jos Buttler's blistering 80 not out on Sunday helped England beat Pakistan by an innings and 55 runs in the second Test at Headingly in Leeds on Sunday....
Recently posted . 721 views . 1 min read
England is scheduled to return to India on Thursday for the second leg of the tour. England is likely to miss the services of mercurial Joe Root when the limited-ov...
Recently posted . 610 views . 9 min read
Welcome to our live coverage of Day 4 action of the India-England fifth Test being played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.
Stay cric...
Recently posted . 658 views . 24 min read
Duanne Olivier and Lungi Ngidi will come into the South African cricket team for the second Test vs the Indian cricket team as replacements ...
Recently posted . 541 views . 2 min read
Dinesh Chandimal has been suspended for one Test and fined 100 percent of his match fee after being found guilty of changing the condition of the ball
Recently posted . 610 views . 1 min read
Trending News & Articles
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (Marathi: श्री. खाशाबा दादासाहेब जाधव, January 15, 1926 – August 14, 1984) was an Indian athlete. He is best known as a wrestler who...
Recently posted . 6K views . 60 min read
There's a scene in the movie 'Captain', a freshly-minted Malayalam biopic on former India defender VP Sathyan, which tries to capture the conflict rag...
Recently posted . 2K views . 1 min read
These are exciting times for Indian football.
India is set to host a FIFA World Cup and participate in it for the first time. The under-17 World Cup begins ...
Recently posted . 2K views . 2 min read
Virat Kohli is one of the fittest players in Indian cricket team but he is not the fittest of all.
Recently posted . 2K views . 0 min read
More in Sports
Hardik Pandya was on the receiving end of fans' anger after he took to Twitter to wish Zaheer Khan on his 41st birthday.
Recently posted. 578 views . 0 min read
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja single-handedly destroyed the English batting line-up with a remarkable seven-wicket haul on Day 5 of the fifth check suit at MA ...
Recently posted. 650 views . 6 min read
It was September 24, 2007. India and Pakistan were facing off in the final of the first ever World T20. The Pakistanis needed 13 off the last over and had one wicke...
Recently posted. 609 views . 3 min read
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 3K views
Recently posted . 1K views
New Delhi: India's boxing legend MC Mary Kom won her fifth gold medal at the Asian Boxing Championships on Wednesday beating North Korea...
Recently posted. 610 views . 3 min read
Senior officials in Assam have begun a probe after a rock was hurled at the bus carrying members of Australian cricket team back to its hote...
Recently posted. 642 views . 3 min read