Galle (Sri Lanka), Aug 10: India's opening batsman Murali Vijay has been ruled out of the 1st Test against Sri Lanka due to a mild hamstring strain, Team Director Ravi Shastri confirmed to the media today.
Vijay, who missed batting in the 3-day practice game against Sri Lanka Board President's XI due to a hamstring strain, will not take part in the opening Test which starts in Galle on August 12.
In Vijay's absence, India will go in with Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul as the opening pair. Rahul had missed the one-off Test against Bangladesh in June due to dengue.
"Vijay picked up the niggle in Zimbabwe during India's recent ODI and T20I series there. He did not come out to bat in both innings of India's only warm-up match, against Sri Lanka Board President's XI in Colombo as a precaution measure.
"To ensure that the niggle is not further aggravated, the Indian team management has decided to give him rest for the first Test starting on August 12 in Galle," the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Monday.
The 31-year-old Vijay has so far played 32 Tests, scoring over 2,000 runs. In his last innings against Bangladesh, he had hit 150.
India and Sri Lanka will play 3 Tests.
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