Already sitting out the fourth cricket Test against England due to injury, Indian pacer Mohammed Shami and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha are set to miss the fifth and final match of the series as well.

Shami picked up a niggle in his right leg during the first Test at Rajkot and has struggled with it throughout the series. He appeared in the first three Tests, but was forced to miss the ongoing match at the Wankhede Stadium.

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Saha suffered an injury to his hamstring tendon during the second Test in Visakhapatnam, and is undergoing rehabilitation.

In his absence, Parthiv Patel returned to the national team after a gap of several years during the third Test in Mohali and impressed with his batting.

“BCCI medical team confirms that Indian pacer Mohammed Shami and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha are ruled out of the fifth Test starting on December 16 against England in Chennai,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement on Sunday.

“Shami has soreness in his right knee and has been advised rest and rehabilitation. He will be going to the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru to start his recovery programme.

“Saha who suffered a hamstring tendon injury in the second Test of the ongoing series against England at Vizag, is undergoing rehabilitation programme at the NCA,” the statement added.

IANS

England won the toss and elected to bat in the third Test against India at the Punjab cricket Association I.S. Bindra Stadium.

For India, promising Karnataka batsman Karun Nair will make his Test debut replacing injured opener Lokesh Rahul while stumper Parthiv Patel has been included in place of injured Wriddhiman Saha.

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After losing the second Test by 246 runs, the visitors have made three changes in their playing XI by including middle order batsman Jos Butler, pacer Chris Woakes and off-spinner Gareth Batty in place of Ben Duckett, injured Stuart Broad and Zafar Ansari respectively.

Teams:
India: Murali Vijay, Parthiv Patel (wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami

England: Alastair Cool (Captain), Jos Butler, Haseeb Hameed, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Abdul Rashid, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, James Anderson, Gareth Batty

IANS

England were in deep trouble after being reduced to 103 for five in their reply to India’s 455 all out in the first innings at the end of second day’s play of the second cricket Test.

Resuming the day at 317/4, India were bowled out for 455 an hour into the second session of play at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.

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In reply, England lost five wickets for just 103 runs and are 352 runs short of India’s first innings score.

Joe Root (53) offered some resistance but Indian bowling attack, spearheaded by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-20), had the visitors on the mat.

Skipper Alastair Cook and debutant opener Haseeb Hameed put on an undefeated 114-run stand as England took a 163-run second innings lead at stumps on the penultimate day of the opening Test against India.

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Rohit Sharma has been sidelined due to an injury while all-rounder Hardik Pandya is the surprise new face in the India squad for the first two cricket Tests against England. 

Rohit sustained an injury to his upper thigh during the One-Day International series against New Zealand while injured openers Lokesh Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan were also ruled out from the squad.

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“As you know Rohit Sharma had a bad injury, he might also have to undergo surgery,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector M.S.K. Prasad said while announcing the team.

Seasoned opener Gautam Gambhir, who scored a fifty in the second innings of his comeback Test against New Zealand, retained his place in the Virat Kohli-led side while Delhi pacer Ishant Sharma made a comeback to the squad after being sidelined due to Chikungunya during the three-match Test series against New Zealand.

Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has recovered from a hamstring injury, which he suffered during the second Test against the Kiwis in Kolkata, but was not picked for the squad.

Commenting on handing a maiden Test call-up to Baroda all-rounder Pandya, Prasad said: “Pandya’s pace has increased, he is moving the ball, his batsmanship has improved”.

“And he has mellowed down as a person. He is one all-rounder we thought is an equally competent bowler and batsman. And a good fielder too.”

“Rahul Dravid has worked hard on the mental side of his game. Now Anil Kumble is guiding him. We have three all-rounders — Stuart Binny, Hardik Pandya, Rishi Dhawan. In this particular series, he scores ahead of Binny. Much quicker and better bowler than Stuart. With form and fitness, Hardik is a better option,” he added.

The first of the five-match Test series will be played at Rajkot from November 9 to 13 followed by the second at Visakhapatnam from November 17 to 21.

The third match of the series will be played at Mohali from November 26 to 30 while the fourth and fifth Tests will be played respectively in Mumbai from December 8 to 12 and Chennai from December 16 to 20.

Squad:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Karun Nair, Murli Vijay, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav.

IANS

Having watched cricket all my life, I find no reasons to follow the game religiously the way I used to. Too much cricket, watched enough for an entire lifetime already; no longer part of a news set-up so no need to follow the game; players of today’s generation are not like a Rahul Dravid or a Sachin Tendulkar.

But along comes a player every now and then, who makes you want him to do well, makes you switch off the TV set once he gets out, makes you spend hours watching the game you thought you had fallen out with.

Kannaur Lokesh Rahul’s batting and the way he carries himself makes you do just that. The technique and time he has while playing against the fast bowlers, the innovation he has added to his batting while playing the shorter format of the game, his ground fielding and wicket keeping ability has all added to his charisma. His Test average of only 25.69 may not do justice to Rahul’s immense batting talent, but he showed enough class and poise while scoring his first Test hundred in just the second Test match of his life.

He returns from Zimbabwe as India’s best batsman with scores of 100, 33, 63, 0, 47, 22 in the ODIs and T20s. And in all likelihood could retain his Team India place in the limited overs game.

Centuries for KL Rahul in both Test and ODI

Most deserving youngster to make the grade

You also take heart from the fact that his selection to the Test squad was not because of any fluke performance in the IPL, though he did have a decent IPL season playing for Pune Sunrisers in 2014. His selection was mainly due to some outstanding batting in the domestic circuit.

In the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy, the Karnataka batsman topped the batting charts for his side by scoring more than 1000 runs and was also declared the Man of the Match in the final. Rahul played a big part in winning the Ranji Trophy title that season for Karnataka. He didn’t stop there. In the Duleep Trophy final the same year playing for South Zone against the Central Zone, Rahul scored centuries in both the innings – 185 off 233 in the first and 130 off 152 in the second. No selection committee could have ignored such sheer numbers so he got to make his Test debut at the age of 22.

Domestic performances getting rewarded will go a long way in motivating aspiring cricketers and giving life to the neglected Ranji Trophy.

After coming back from the Australian tour, Rahul went onto score a historic triple century (337), the first Karnataka batsman to achieve the feat in Ranji Trophy. His feat was later replicated by teammate Karun Nair, who scored 328 against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy final next year.

The Making of KL Rahul

Rahul has gone for a complete makeover. And I’m not talking about his long hair and beard look. Not so long back he was dismissed as a Test specialist only but success in the IPL this year and now a century on ODI debut against Zimbabwe (the first Indian to do so) has added a new dimension to India’s batting.

His IPL success and love for tattoos (he now sports seven tattoos) have added to his fan following. And tweets like these are making new fans join the ranks each day – 
@rahulkl“My body is my journal ,and My tattoos are my story “

Not only cricket, Rahul is a sports fan

Rahul played other sports while growing up and he has kept the interest going as you can clearly see from his tweeted pictures.

KL Rahul playing tennis & football

No doubt he has all the credentials to be a crowd puller off the field, like his Test and IPL captain Virat Kohli. And now with a century on his one-day international debut – there’s no stopping this young man from Karnataka. No doubt he will have to show consistency, curb his strokes at beginning of an innings. But with age on his side and the ability to adapt to all three formats, it will be well worth watching Rahul’s cricketing journey.

By Rajesh Sahu

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