After considering the workload management of Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul’s fitness, BCCI plans to postpone India’s squad selection to Saturday.
BCCI postpones India’s Squad Selection
India’s squad announcement for the final three tests in England’s tour of India 2024 has been most awaited by fans and cricket enthusiasts due to injury concerns of key players.
BCCI has postponed the meeting due to Ravindra Jadeja‘s fitness status. Initially, the meeting was slated to be held on Thursday. It was then postponed to Friday but did not happen as per plan. Hence, the selectors have decided to meet on Saturday.
The postponement of the meeting in the first place is due to the workload of Bumrah and the fitness status of Jadeja and KL Rahul. After discussing with the BCCI medical team, the management has come to a unanimous decision about playing Bumrah in the third test.
Meanwhile, NCA has declared that KL Rahul is fit to play in the upcoming test. He was sidelined during the second test due to a quadriceps injury. Now, the only concern is Jadeja who is expected to take place in the squad.
Jadeja was also ruled out of the second test due to a Hamstring injury during the second innings of the first test. Since then he has been in NCA to regain fitness. Despite making improvements in his fitness, he would still require a few more days to be fully fit.
The all-rounder’s availability is very crucial to the squad, due to which the selectors are awaiting the final reports on the fitness of the player before announcing the squad.
“The think-tank is willing to wait till the last minute for Jadeja. His batting has shown much promise during the first Test and it is believed that the lefthander can negate the threat posed by the spinners, especially Tom Hartley,” said a source.
With five days left before the Rajkot Test, the selectors might include Jadeja in the squad subject to fitness clearance.
If Jadeja returns to the playing 11, he will be replacing Axar Patel. Mohammed Siraj was another player who was sidelined during the second test. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer likely to miss the remaining three tests has been suffering from a back and groin injury.
Hence Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan both will get a chance in the squad. After securing one victory each India and England will be playing their third match on February 15 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
