Karthik to replace Saha for third Test

centurion — Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was on Tuesday ruled out of the third and final Test against South Africa due to a hamstring injury and will be replaced by Dinesh Karthik Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was on Tuesday ruled out of the third and final Test against South Africa due to a hamstring injury and will be replaced by Dinesh Karthik in the squad.

Saha, who is not part of the team playing the ongoing second Test here, picked up the injury while training on January 11. The third and final Test of the series is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg from January 24. “The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Dinesh Karthik as the replacement for Wriddhiman Saha for the third and final Test against South Africa. He is set to join the team before the third Test,” the BCCI Acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a statement.

The 32-year-old Karthik has played 23 Tests for India but his last five-day appearance for the team was back in 2010 against Bangladesh. He has 51 catches and five stumpings to his credit.

Saha was replaced by Parthiv Patel in the ongoing Test here after he picked up the injury, which was initially described as a niggle. He wasn’t much of a success in the opening Test in Cape Town, returning scores of 0 and 8. But the 33-year-old broke Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s record for most dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper in a Test match.

Saha claimed 10 catches in the Cape Town Test to go past the record of nine dismissals set by Dhoni against Australia in Melbourne in December 2014. —