India v Sri Lanka: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan released from India squad

In a very surprising update, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that two senior members from the Indian squad have been released ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka. The announcement revealed that pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and opener Shikhar Dhawan have been released from the squad. The board made the announcement hours after team India drew the first Test against Sri Lanka at Kolkata.

Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had played key roles for the hosts in the match and the heroics of the latter had almost sealed the win for India on the day. BCCI has announced Tamil Nadu cricketer Vijay Shankar as the replacement for Bhuvi in the squad. Another couple of updates followed the announcement on the social media.

The updates revealed that Shikhar Dhawan will be available for the third and the final Test of the series. Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to be rested for both the remaining Tests in the series. Bhuvi is all set to tie the knot and the sources reveal that his marriage is likely to take place on November 23.

Talking about the replacements, it is unlikely that Vijay Shankar would get a game straight away. The likes of Rohit Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav would be hoping to get a game. Meanwhile, Dhawan’s absence might not hurt much to the hosts. The squad already has seasoned opener Murali Vijay, who was a surprise omission from the first Test.

Here are the official announcement tweets:

“NEWS – Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan released from Indian Test team. Vijay Shankar has been named as Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s replacement in the squad #INDvSL,” the BCCI announced on their official social media handle.

“The duo made a request to the selectors and the team management to release them owing to personal reasons,” BCCI added in another tweet.

“Mr. Dhawan is available for selection for the third Test,” the board conceded in another update.