Team India is all geared up to take on South Africa in a two-match Test series, the only country where they are yet to win a series and have already copped a couple of injury blows even before the start of the assignment. India welcomed back their stars in the form of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah as they all missed the World Test Championship final and then the West Indies series as well. However, Mohammed Shami who was also set to make a Test comeback suffered an ankle injury and was ruled out of the two-game assignment.
Shami was on fire in the ICC Cricket World Cup taking 24 wickets in the tournament. And in the form he was in, he could have been an X-factor for India but it wasn't to be and Indian skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that Shami would be a big miss.
"Very important Test series. We have never won a series here. It's a big opportunity for us. We came close the last two times. That gives us a lot of excitement and encouragement to do our best. Our seamers have done well in Australia, England and South Africa. The seamers have actually pulled their weight in. Shami will be a big miss," Rohit said in the pre-match presser.
Shami's absence means an opportunity for either Prasidh Krishna or Mukesh Kumar in the line-up and Rohit didn't delve into details as to who India are inclining towards. Shami took 14 wickets in three matches when India toured South Africa the last time and India will hope that Prasidh and Mukesh are able to fill those shoes with Jaspriut Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj likely to take the other two places.
India's Test squad for South Africa series: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KS Bharat (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna
