Shardul Thakur replaces injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took a fantastic five-wicket haul to set up India’s win in the Kolkata Test, has been ruled out of the third and the final Test against New Zealand due to a back strain. Bhuvneshwar sustained the injury during the second Test in Kolkata, a BCCI press release mentioned.

Bhuvneshwar played a key role in India’s 178-run win in Kolkata, taking six wickets in the match including a five-for in the first innings that gave India a decisive 112-run lead. It was his second five-wicket haul in three Test matches. Incidentally, both of his five-wicket hauls have come in matches where he was making a comeback. He registered his previous five-wicket haul against West Indies last month.

Mumbai and India A fast bowler Shardul Thakur has been named as his replacement on the side. This is the second call-up the fast bowler as earned this year. He earned his first call-up to the squad during India’s tour of the West Indies in July-August. Hopefully, the mercurial seamer would get a chance to make his test debut in the upcoming match.

The 24-year-old Thakur played a chief role in Mumbai’s title-winning campaign last season, snapping 41 wickets in 11 matches to finish as his team’s highest wicket-taker and also as the 7th in the list of the top ten wicket takers of Ranji 2015/16.

His success in the domestic arena also earned him a place in the India A team with which he recently toured Australia to play in the tri- series. He had a successful time there too and finished the tour with 11 wickets in three first-class games.