India suffered a set back before the Galle Test scheduled to start on August 12 as opener Murali Vijay has been ruled out from the first Test due to injury , team director Ravi Shastri confirmed on Monday.
“Murali Vijay is still under recovery and we don’t want to take a chance on him for the first Test. Especially with conditions like this (rain on and off). Ground might be slippery,” Ravi Shastri said two days ahead of the first Test.
Vijay has suffred a hamstring injury which he picked during India’s recent series in Zimbabwe. He was also not picked for the three day warm up match against Sri Lanka Bora President’s XI.
“He’s the in form player, he’s had a fabulous run in Test cricket. He will be missed because he’s an experienced player now,” Shastri said. The team management doesn’t want to aggravate the niggle and has decided to rest him for the first Test starting on August 12 in Galle.
In the past few series Vijay has been remarkably consistent batsman for India. When India suffered huge blow in England and Australia, Vijay’s individual performance had been superb. Vijay has six centuries in 32 Test Vijay has scored 2338 runs with an average of 41.75