New Delhi: Wriddhiman Saha and M Vijay have been ruled out of the final Test of the Sri Lanka series due to hamstring injuries. Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha will replace Saha in the squad, while Karun Nair comes in for Vijay.
Saha had picked up the injury, to his lower right hamstring, during the second Test at the P Sara Oval. He retired hurt while batting on day four of the game, but came back out at the fall of India’s seventh wicket and was at the crease when Virat Kohli signalled the declaration, but it was KL Rahul who kept wicket at the start of Sri Lanka’s chase.
Vijay had missed the first Test due to what was tagged a hamstring “niggle”. He returned at the P Sara Oval, where he followed up a first-innings duck with 82 in the second. According to a BCCI release, during the game, Vijay “sustained mild re-occurrence on his pre-existing injury in his right hamstring and would need further strength training to recover completely”.
Karnataka batsman Karun Nair comes fresh off an unbeaten century for India A against South Africa A, in a four-day game in Wayanad. Nair, who is yet to debut in senior international cricket, grabbed the spotlight in the 2013-14 domestic season, hitting centuries in three successive Ranji Trophy matches, including the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. In 2014-15, after a quiet start to the season, he impressed once again in the big game, hitting a triple-hundred in the Ranji Trophy final.
Madhya Pradesh’s Ojha had been called up as a replacement for Saha during India’s tour to England in 2014 as well, but did not get a game with MS Dhoni still around. Like Nair, he had made a mark in 2013-14, with 835 runs in seven Ranji Trophy matches and 430 runs in three innings, including a double-century and two centuries, for India A against an Australia A in Australia.
