Murali Vijay ruled out of India's tour of Sri Lanka

Opener Murali Vijay has been ruled out of India’s tour of Sri Lanka. Vijay had injured his wrist during the Australia Test series underwent a surgery at the end of the season in London but hasn’t recovered completely to be able to play Test cricket. Team India is scheduled to play 3 Tests along with 5 ODIs and a T20I on the tour.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors have named left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan as a replacement for the Tamil Nadu batter. Vijay was supposed to play local league matches to test his fitness ahead of the tour and he has reported pain in his right wrist. The medical team of the team has thus suggested that he showed be allowed more time to let the injury recover completely and has been ruled out of the tour.

A BCCI media release stated:

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee on Monday named Shikhar Dhawan as the replacement for injured Murali Vijay in the Test team, which is scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka for a three-match Test series,”

“Vijay, who had suffered a wrist injury during Australia’s tour of India, has complained of pain in his right wrist, while playing a preparatory match. The BCCI medical team has therefore advised that Vijay should continue his rehabilitation program,” it further stated.

Dhawan in Tests

Dhawan who had an outstanding stint in the Champions Trophy 2017 showed extension in form on the Caribbean tour before registering a string of low scores. He last played a Test match back in September 2017 against New Zealand and had last scored a hundred on the tour of the Lankan islands in 2015 and has only one fifty plus score in Tests since then.

Virat Kohli & Co. will start their campaign in Sri Lanka with the first Test at Colombo from July 26. They will fly with a new head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun.

Indian squad for the tour of Sri Lanka 2017:

Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhimann Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.