Murali Vijay ruled out of second Test
Jul 30, 2016 at 11:01 AM
Indian opening batsman Murali Vijay has been ruled out of the second Test against West Indies, which begins on Saturday(July 30) at Jamaica, after he failed to recover from a finger injury that he sustained during the first Test at Antigua.
The right-handed batsman injured his right thumb when he was dismissed by a Shanon Gabriel delivery that hit his finger before being caught in the slips. He did not come out to field during the hosts’ innings.
India’s back-up opener, KL Rahul, who had an impressive outing during the warm-up games, will replace the Tamil Nadu batsman.
Speaking about the injury,Indian skipper Virat Kohli said: “Unfortunately, Vijay has to miss out because of injury. (It’s) not good for him. He’s someone who has always done well for the team, always takes pride in playing for the country. He was not really happy with getting hit in the first innings, (but it) is not in his control.”
However, the skipper was more than happy to welcome KL Rahul in the playing XI. The opener,who has scored two Test hundreds in five matches so far, has been performing consistently with the bat. After having his best IPL season till date, where he scored 397 runs, he made his ODI and T20I debut in Zimbabwe where he emerged as one of the best batsmen.
“Well, (Rahul has) been in a very good zone,” Kohli said. “He scored runs in the practice games, he scored in Zimbabwe, we all know that. He had a great IPL season. I think that was the turnaround for confidence as far as he’s concerned. Last year, he had a good tour to Sri Lanka, got a hundred there. Again, didn’t play against South Africa.
“It’s more a case of a guy waiting for an opportunity. You can see that with him. You can sense it. He wants to play. He’s batting really well, he wants to make it count. He wants to get big runs. I’m confident of his abilities. He’s pretty compact, he’s a solid opener and he’s a great fielder as well. Gives you that wicket-keeping option as well, in case something happens to Saha,” he said.
“He’s all in all, he’s a great package for the team and it’s great to see that he’s going to get a Test match.
India currently lead the four-match Test series by 1-0.