India suffered a jolt ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh starting on Sunday as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Saturday ruled out of the series-opener due to back spasm.
The administrative manager of the Indian team said opener Virender Sehwag will lead the side in Dhoni's absence .
"Dhoni is having a back spasm so he is ruled out of the first Tests. Sehwag will lead the team," Ayub told PTI.
"Dinesh Karthik is likely to be included in the playing XI," he added Meanwhile, India named 12 players for the Test, leaving out Sudeep Tyagi, Murali Vijay and Pragyan Ojha from the 16-man squad, besides Dhoni. Ishant Sharma is also in the 12.
Dhoni took part in the training session yesterday and he did batting and wicketkeeping practice. Today, he accompanied the players to the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Cricket Stadium but did not take part in the optional practice session.
Just after the team entered the stadium, Dhoni headed straight to the dressing room and remained there till the practice session ended. Sehwag addressed the pre-series press conference.
Despite speculation that Sachin Tendulkar might be having some injury problems as he did practice at the nets with a strap on his right elbow today, he has been named in the team. PTI
