India will face England in a five-match Test series that starts on January 25 in Hyderabad. The BCCI selection committee, headed by former pacer Ajit Agarkar, is set to announce India’s squad for the upcoming red-ball series in the coming days. But ahead of the start of the home series, India has suffered a setback in the form of Ruturaj Gaikwad. The star batter, who suffered a finger injury during the second ODI against South Africa on December 19, 2023, is likely to miss the first two Tests against England.
Due to the injury, Gaikwad was ruled out of the Test series in South Africa and now will miss the Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam Tests against the Poms. According to a report in the Times of India, the 26-year-old opening batter is expected to get fit in time for the third Test, which starts on February 15 in Rajkot.
“Ruturaj is recovering at the National Cricket Academy and should be fit after a week or 10 days. He will subsequently be available for Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy. He is likely to be available for selection after the second Test of the series,” a source was quoted as saying by TOI.
Gaikwad is the Indian cricketer who is set to miss the first couple of Tests against England. On Monday (January 8), it was reported that pacer Mohammed Shami will also not be available for selection in the first two matches. Like Gaikwad, Shami was also included for the South Africa Test series but was later ruled out.
Gaikwad earned his maiden India Test call-up for the two-match Test series against the West Indies in July 2023 but didn’t get a chance to play.
In Gaikwad’s absence, Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran was included in India’s Test squad as a back-up opener against South Africa and the India A captain is likely to get a call-up for the first two Tests against England once again.
Skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the first-choice opening batters for India in Test matches. The 22-year-old Jaiswal made his Test debut for India against the West Indies in Roseau on July 12, 2023, and in his first innings, he scored 171 runs to become the first Indian opener to score a century on Test debut outside India.
