Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami are racing against time to be fit for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which begins on December 14 in Chattogram. Battling injuries, both players missed the last ODI series. In their absence, India would most likely replace them with Uttar Pradesh's Saurabh Kumar and Navdeep Saini. Both Saurabh and Saini are currently on tour with India A in Bangladesh. Jadeja is still recovering from knee surgery he had earlier this year in September, and Shami is nursing a shoulder problem. Shami sustained the injury during a training session after returning from Australia, where India lost in the T20 World Cup semi-finals last month.
Saurabh, the left-arm spinner from Uttar Pradesh, might make his debut as a stand-in for Jadeja. He has been a steady performer in the Ranji Trophy, and in the ongoing unofficial Test series against Bangladesh A, he has taken ten wickets at an average of 15.30.
Saurabh can also contribute with the bat lower down the order, as he demonstrated on Thursday with a 39-ball 55 at Sylhet against the Bangladesh-A side.
If promoted, Saini will join Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj as India's seam-bowling options for the series. The captain, Rohit Sharma, is questionable for the Test series opener after injuring his thumb in the second ODI in Mirpur on Wednesday.
Ravindra Jadeja has been out of action after suffering a knee injury due to which the southpaw had to undergo knee surgery.
Rohit has subsequently gone to Mumbai to see a specialist, but the BCCI is yet to provide an update on the status of his injury.
After India lost the ODI series 2-0, Rohit expressed his displeasure with India's growing injury list. Deepak Chahar (hamstring strain) and Kuldeep Sen (back strain) are also on the list.
India lost the second match of the ODI series by five runs to give Bangladesh its second 50-over format series victory against the men in blue.
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