India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad will miss the two-match Test series against South Africa, starting on December 26.
Gaikwad suffered an injury in his right ring finger while fielding in the second ODI in Gqeberha. He also didn’t play the third ODI to undergo scans. On further assessment, the medical team of the BCCI ruled him out for the remainder of the series.
It was the first time Gaikwad was selected in India's Test squad.
The 26-year-old failed to impress in the ODI series, scoring only 9 runs in two outings.
Abhimanyu Easwaran has been named as Gaikwad’s replacement. The 28-year-old Easwaran has been included as a standby player in India's squad before but has not made his international debut, yet.
The two-match Test series starts with the Boxing Day Test in Centurion. The second Test will be held between 3 and 7 January 2024 in Cape Town.
The T20I series ended in a 1-1 draw but the three-match ODI series was won by India 2-1.
India’s squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)
Test schedule:
26 to 30 December 2023 – 1st Test, SuperSport Park, Centurion
03 to 07 January 2024 – 2nd Test, Newlands, Cape Town
