Gambhir replaces injured Rahul in India’s Test squad

34-year-old left-handed opener last played a Test over two years ago


Reuters September 28, 2016
Gambhir last played a Test for India over two years ago. PHOTO: AFP

PANAJI: India’s in-form opening batsman Lokesh Rahul has been ruled out of the remaining two Tests against New Zealand due to a hamstring injury and has been replaced by Gautam Gambhir in the squad, the country’s cricket board announced on Tuesday.

Fast-bowler Ishant Sharma will also miss the second Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata after failing to recover from the mosquito-borne viral disease Chikungunya, which also forced him to sit out of the Kanpur opener.

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Uncapped Haryana off-spinner Jayant Yadav will replace Sharma for the second Test of the series, which India lead 1-0.

Rahul previously scored two hundreds and a fifty in four innings against the West Indies in Tests and a T20I recently. He made 32 and 38 in Kanpur and injured his right hamstring while running between the wickets.

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Gambhir, 34, has played 56 Tests for India, the last of them in England over two years ago. The left-handed opener, who has scored nine Test hundreds, was recalled to the Indian squad on the back of his strong form in domestic tournaments.

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