Riding on back-to-back centuries in India A's series against Bangladesh A, the explosive opener Abhimanyu Easwaran in all likelihood could replace the Men in Blue's skipper Rohit Sharma for the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh which is set to start from December 14. Rohit incurred a serious injury on his thumb in the second ODI against Bangladesh on Wednesday (December 7). However, despite he braved the injury with a whirlwind 51 off 27 balls, India went on to lose the match by five runs. Rohit is likely to be ruled out of the Test series against Bangladesh as well.
"Abhimanyu Easwaran has scored back to back hundreds in ongoing A Test series and is an opener. In all likelihood, he will join the squad in Chattogram after finishing his second A Test in Sylhet," a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Easwaran belted 141 in first Test between India A and Bangladesh A Test and was 144 not out at stumps on day two of the second Test.
While Easwaran might come in as Rohit's cover, it will be stand in skipper KL Rahul and young Shubman Gill who would be opening the innings for India in Chattogram and Dhaka.
Meanwhile, it has also been learnt that Bengal seamer Mukesh Kumar, who has consistently performed for India A, or Umran Malik, could be a possible cover for India's senior pacer Mohammed Shami, who is also injured.
India's bowling could have a severely depleted look as Ravindra Jadeja, who hasn't played a single match since undergoing knee surgery, will be playing the Test matches straightaway.
While Axar Patel is already in the squad, Saurabh Kumar could be called in from the A team as a back up left arm spinner unless some out of box thinking brings Suryakumar Yadav in the mix.
Surya has already confirmed that he will play Mumbai's second Ranji Trophy game this season.
India Test squad for 2022 Bangladesh tour: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
With PTI inputs..
