In a big blow to India Red ahead of Duleep Trophy, captain Abhinav Mukund has been ruled out of his team’s tournament opener. According to a report in Cricbuzz, the India opener has been ruled out of the clash because of being well and has consequently not joined the India Red camp in Lucknow.
With Mukund being ruled out of the clash, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik will lead the side in its opening encounter against India Red which is scheduled to be played from September 7 at Lucknow’s newly-built Ekana International Cricket Stadium. Mukund’s absence will also pave the way for Bengal’s Sudip Chatterjee to partner Gujarat’s Priyank Panchal at the top of the batting order.
Meanwhile, the absence will also be a big blow for Mukund himself. The left-handed batsman, who made his Test debut way back in 2011, has played only seven Tests so far and is yet to cement his spot in the playing eleven. Six years after making his debut, he was recalled to the Test team earlier this year but failed to justify his selection. After the failures in the Border-Gavaskar series, he was fortunately retained for the Sri Lanka series, but his poor performance in international cricket continued.
He got out for a duck in the warm-up game against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI before managing 12 in the first innings of the first Test. On the other hand, his partner Shikhar Dhawan, who too was making a comeback in the Test team, scored a brilliant century. Mukund went on to score 81 in the second innings but time ran out for him as he made way for KL Rahul in the following Test. With Dhawan and Rahul already proving their worth in Sri Lanka and Murali Vijay is a guaranteed starter in the team, time is running out for Mukund, and he needs to capitalise on every given opportunity to impress the selectors.
India Red Squad for Duleep Trophy 2017:
Abhinav Mukund (C), Priyank Panchal, Sudip Chatterjee, Ishank Jaggi, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Baba Indrajith, K Gowtham, Karn Sharma, Basil Thampi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ashok Dinda, Rahul Singh, CV Milind