Shikhar Dhawan Replaces Injured Murali Vijay In India Squad For Sri Lanka Test Series

Opener Murali Vijay was ruled out of the Test series against Sri Lanka due to a wrist injury. The Tamil Nadu cricketer was subsequently replaced by Shikhar Dhawan in the 16-member squad for the three-match series starting July 26 in Galle. Dhawan, who is a regular in the Indian ODI side, has played 23 Tests, averages 38.52 and has four Test hundreds to his name. He last played a Test for India in 2016 against New Zealand in a home series.

"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," the BCCI Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary said in a release.

UPDATE: @SDhawan25 to replace injured Murali Vijay for India's tour of Sri Lanka, 2017 pic.twitter.com/OD07odsd3q

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 17, 2017

"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," he added.

Virat Kohli-led India are set to play 3 Tests, 5 ODIs and one T20I against Sri Lanka during the long series that begins end July. The three Test matches will be played at Galle, Colombo and Kandy, respectively. This is the first time the two countries will be playing a full series (includes all three formats) in eight years.

After the Test series, India are scheduled to play five one-dayers starting August 20 before signing off with a lone Twenty20 on September 6.

SQUAD:

Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice captain), Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.

(With PTI inputs)