India’s opening batsman Murali Vijay and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha will miss the rest of the Sri Lanka Test series due to hamstring injuries, the team management said yesterday.
Uncapped young opener Karun Nair will replace Vijay, and Naman Ojha, who is also yet to play a Test, will come in for Saha ahead of the third and final Test in Colombo from August 28.
Vijay, who missed the first Test in Galle due to a hamstring niggle, aggravated the same injury after being picked for the ongoing second Test in Colombo where he made 0 and 82.
“Vijay has sustained mild re-occurrence on a pre-existing injury in his right hamstring and will need further training to recover completely,” a team statement said.
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Saha suffered a strain in his right hamstring while batting in India’s second innings yesterday and did not take the field when Sri Lanka batted, leaving Lokesh Rahul to keep wickets. However, in a perplexing decision, Saha had been asked to bat again late in the second innings after going off the field due to the injury. Saha hit half-centuries in each of the first two Tests.
Nair, a 23-year-old from Karnataka, scored a match-saving 114 not out for India ‘A’ in an unofficial Test against South Africa ‘A’ last week.
Nair came into limelight in the 2013-14 domestic season, hitting centuries in three straight Ranji Trophy matches, including the quarter and semi-finals.
The Captain strikes a pose with the star performers of the 2nd Test #SLvsIND pic.twitter.com/Bz6DMEXNRF
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 24, 2015
In the next season, he remained subdued before grabbing the headlines by smashing a triple-century for his team in the Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu.
Ojha, 32, played a solitary one-day international and two Twenty20 matches during India’s limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe in July. He was also called up as reserve wicket-keeper on India’s tours of England and Australia last year.
