Xtra Time Web Desk : Team India’s Test vice captain Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the South Africa Test series starting from December 26. Rohit will miss the test series due to an old hamstring injury of his, which resurfaced during a net session in Mumbai. Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal has been named as a cover for the former’s absence.
The 34-year-old Rohit also sustained a hit on his hands at the Mumbai nets while taking throwdowns from Raghavendra aka Raghu.
“Yes, Rohit did suffer an injury on his hand but even after that he had batted. So we can presume that hand injury isn’t serious. But thereafter, it seemed the old hamstring problem resurfaced once again and it might take some time before he is fully fit and available.
“They are trying to sort it out. Hamstring injuries normally take four weeks which could effectively rule him out of Test series,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on Monday.
As of now, the extent of Rohit’s injury is not very clear. It is not known whether it’s a strain which is a less serious injury or a tear, which will have to be graded.
“There are some issues but the medical team is trying to sort it out,” a source close to the cricketer told PTI.
The BCCI is yet to share the details of his scan report which will ascertain the degree of the injury.
“Any hamstring injury, even the lowest grade takes a month to heal with rehabilitation sessions. In Tests we have Mayank Agarwal ready to open with KL Rahul, who could potentially be the vice-captain.
“And now we have Priyank Panchal also as cover. We would be hoping that he is fit and ready for the ODI series,” the source added. It is learnt that Panchal reported at the team hotel this evening.
“Panchal has been asked to report at the Mumbai team hotel tonight. He is there as a cover for Rohit. Also because he recently played in South Africa and scored runs, he was asked to join,” an official associated with the India A team informed.
Panchal is no greenhorn as he has 100 first-class matches under his belt with 7011 runs, including 24 hundreds. He has been a part of a very successful Gujarat team that won the Ranji Trophy under Parthiv Patel and has been an India A captain. He was fighting for the reserve opener’s slot with Abhimanyu Easwaran but pipped the Bengal man as the latter batted at No.3 in the A series.