As their bowling attack is set to have a diminished appearance for the two-match Test series beginning on December 14 in Chattogram, India’s woes in Bangladesh could get worse. Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, and captain Rohit Sharma have already been ruled out of the third and final ODI on Saturday. Chahar and Kuldeep are not on the Test roster, and it seems unlikely that skipper Rohit will play in the Test series. Amid all this, there are reports that senior pro-Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja haven’t recovered from their respective injuries and could miss the two-match Test series. For this tour, the ODI and Test lineups both included Shami and Jadeja.
When India was in New Zealand, Jadeja’s ineligibility for the three-match ODI series was confirmed. The veteran all-rounder was then replaced by Shahbaz Ahmed, while Shami was sidelined with a shoulder injury just a few days before the first ODI. Shami and Jadeja are reportedly not going to Bangladesh and would instead go to NCA to improve their fitness, according to sources. The BCCI has not yet provided an official update on their availability for the Test series.
If Shami and Jadeja are both ruled out, India’s bowling arsenal could be seriously threatened given that Jasprit Bumrah is already out with a back ailment. Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Mohammed Siraj will have to share the bulk of the workload if India wishes to beat Bangladesh in the two Tests and stay alive in the race to the World Test Championships final. Umran Malik, Navdeep Saini, and Mukesh Kumar are rumored to be in a three-way fight to replace the injured Shami. Malik has performed admirably in his most recent ODI appearances in Bangladesh and New Zealand. As the Test match goes on, his additional speed may be useful on wickets with erratic bounce.
Following successful performances with India A in the two unofficial Test matches against Bangladesh A, Saini and Mukesh would also be confident in their chances. Axar Patel, Jadeja’s like-for-like successor, is already on the roster for India, and if they need an additional spinner, Kuldeep Yadav can be used. Saurabh Kumar, though, has little chance of replacing Jadeja in the lineup.
India Test squad for Bangladesh series
Rohit Sharma (C) (doubtful), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja (doubtful), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami (doubtful), Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
