Jadeja has been out of action after suffering a knee injury. Rohit Sharma has gone to Mumbai to see a specialist, but the BCCI is yet to provide an update on the status of his injury
Our Bureau
Dhaka
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been added to India’s squad for the third and final ODI of the three-match series against Bangladesh, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Friday.
India has lost the three-match ODI series 0-2 against host Bangladesh. “India captain Rohit Sharma suffered a blow to his thumb in the second over while fielding in the 2nd ODI. The BCCI Medical Team assessed him and he underwent scans at a local hospital in Dhaka. He has flown to Mumbai for specialist consultation and will miss the final ODI. A call on his availability for the upcoming Test series will be taken later,” BCCI said in a statement.
Rohit was among the three players confirmed by head coach Rahul Dravid to miss the third ODI against Bangladesh. Dravid stated that Rohit would miss the third ODI and head to Mumbai to consult an expert.
Fast bowler Kuldeep Sen complained of stiffness in his back after the first ODI. The BCCI Medical Team assessed him and he was advised to rest from the 2nd ODI.
Kuldeep Sen has been diagnosed with a stress injury and is ruled out of the series. Fellow fast bowler Deepak Chahar sustained a left hamstring strain during the 2nd ODI and is also ruled out of the series. Both Kuldeep and Deepak will now report to NCA for further management of their injuries.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added Kuldeep Yadav to India’s squad for the third and final ODI.
India’s squad for 3rd ODI against Bangladesh: KL Rahul (C) (WK), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik and Kuldeep Yadav.
India to miss Jadeja and Shami for Bangladesh Tests
Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami are racing against time to be fit for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which begins on December 14 in Chattogram.
Battling injuries, both players missed the last ODI series. In their absence, India would most likely replace them with Uttar Pradesh’s Saurabh Kumar and Navdeep Saini. Both Saurabh and Saini are currently on tour with India A in Bangladesh. Jadeja is still recovering from knee surgery he had earlier this year in September, and Shami is nursing a shoulder problem. Shami sustained the injury during a training session after returning from Australia, where India lost in the T20 World Cup semi-finals last month.
Saurabh, the left-arm spinner from Uttar Pradesh, might make his debut as a stand-in for Jadeja. He has been a steady performer in the Ranji Trophy, and in the ongoing unofficial Test series against Bangladesh A, he has taken ten wickets at an average of 15.30.
Saurabh can also contribute with the bat lower down the order, as he demonstrated on Thursday with a 39-ball 55 at Sylhet against the Bangladesh-A side.
If promoted, Saini will join Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj as India’s seam-bowling options for the series. The captain, Rohit Sharma, is questionable for the Test series opener after injuring his thumb in the second ODI in Mirpur on Wednesday.
Ravindra Jadeja has been out of action after suffering a knee injury due to which the southpaw had to undergo knee surgery.
Rohit has subsequently gone to Mumbai to see a specialist, but the BCCI is yet to provide an update on the status of his injury.
After India lost the ODI series 2-0, Rohit expressed his displeasure with India’s growing injury list. Deepak Chahar (hamstring strain) and Kuldeep Sen (back strain) are also on the list.
India lost the second match of the ODI series by five runs to give Bangladesh its second 50-over format series victory against the men in blue.
Cricket fraternity hails Rohit for gutsy half-century
The Indian cricket fraternity took to social media to hail Rohit Sharma for playing despite an injury and scoring a valiant half-century in his side’s five-run loss to Bangladesh in the second ODI on Wednesday.
BCCI, the country’s governing body of the sport, took to social media to laud the skipper for stepping in during time of crisis despite his injury. “Gets hit Comes back for the team Walks in at No.9 in a run-chase Scores 51*(28) to get us close to the target Take a bow captain! #TeamIndia | #BANvIND | @ImRo45,” tweeted BCCI.
Rohit’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians also took to Twitter to laud Rohit for his effort. “Fought through pain. RESPECT #OneFamily #BANvIND@ImRo45,” tweeted MI’s official handle.
Even the star Indian T20 batter and Rohit’s MI teammate Suryakumar Yadav, was in awe of the skipper’s determination and commitment. “Massive Respect bro @ImRo45 #BANvsIND,” tweeted Suryakumar.
Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also lauded Rohit for his superhuman effort that almost won India the match. “Massive respect @ImRo45 bhaiya,” tweeted Chahal.
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan also praised Rohit for his “gritty” knock.
“Gritty from @ImRo45 too giving everything despite the injury,” tweeted Rohit.
Domestic cricket legend and former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer also lauded Rohit for the fight he put up.
“Congratulations @BCBtigers on an impressive series win. Both the games they found themselves in tough spots yet both the games they showed the cricketing smarts, and composure to achieve the wins and @ImRo45 respect for fighting till the end #BANvIND,” tweeted Jaffer.
Former Indian spinner Amit Mishra also lauded Rohit, noting that it takes “immense courage” to play the way Rohit did despite the injury.
“It takes immense courage and strength to do what Indian skipper did today.. Well played Rohit and Congratulations Bangladesh. #BanvsInd,” tweeted Mishra.
Bangladesh now has an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series.
Opting to bat first, Bangladesh was off to a bad start and were reduced to 69/6. From that point, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (100*) and Mahmudullah (77) put a match-winning stand of 148 runs for the seventh wicket that powered their side to 271/7 in their 50 overs.
Washington Sundar (3/37) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Mohammed Siraj and Umran Malik also took two wickets.
Chasing 272, India was also reduced to 65/4 due to some fantastic bowling by Bangladesh.
Shreyas Iyer (82) continued his golden run with the bat, putting a 107-run stand with bowling all-rounder Axar Patel (56) for the fifth wicket. After these two batters were dismissed, Bangladesh seemed to have made a comeback in the game.
However, skipper Rohit came down the order with an injured thumb and almost stole the game from Bangladesh, smashing an unbeaten 51 off 28 balls with three fours and five sixes. But a maiden 48th over played by Mohammed Siraj and bowled by Mustafizur Rahman boosted Bangladesh’s chances of winning. However, Rohit carried on with his carnage, but Mustafizur held his nerves to defend 20 runs in the last over to pull off a memorable win.
Shreyas becomes fastest Indian to reach 1,500 ODI runs
Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer continues to maintain an unreal level of consistency and break records, becoming the fastest Indian batter to score 1,500 runs in ODI cricket.
Iyer accomplished this feat during India’s second ODI against Bangladesh at Dhaka on Wednesday. The stylish batter continued his golden run, scoring 82 off 102 balls with six fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 80.39. Though India lost the match by five runs, his knock and consistency emerged as positives for the Men in Blue.
Now in 38 matches, across 34 innings, Iyer has scored 1,534 runs at an average of 49.48. He has scored two centuries and 14 half-centuries in his ODI career so far, with the best score of 113*.
He has overtaken opener KL Rahul, who reached the 1,500-run mark in 36 innings, followed by Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, who reached the landmark in 38 innings.
This year in 16 matches, Iyer has scored 721 runs in 14 innings across 16 matches at an average of 60.08, with one century and six fifties. His best individual score is 113*.
He is the highest-run scorer in ODIs this year among the Test-playing nations. MG Erasmus of Namibia has scored the highest number of runs in ODIs this year, having made 956 runs in 21 matches, in 20 innings at an average of over 56, with one century and eight fifties. Overall, Iyer is the sixth-highest run-scorer in ODIs in 2022.
The batter is leading India’s batting charts in ODIs in 2022. Shikhar Dhawan (685 in 21 innings), Shubman Gill (638 in 12 innings) are two of his closest rivals from his country this year.
