Rohit Sharma sustains hit in Mumbai nets, A team captain Priyank Panchal called as cover

A
BCCI
official
informed
that
Priyank
Panchal,
who
scored
96
in
an
A
Test
match
against
South
Africa
A
recently,
has
been
called
in
as
cover
for
the
series
starting
December
26
in
Centurion.
The
34-year-old
Rohit
also
sustained
a
hit
on
his
hands
at
the
Mumbai
nets
while
taking
throwdowns
from
Raghavendra
aka
Raghu.

“Yes,
Rohit
did
suffer
an
injury
on
his
hand
but
even
after
that
he
had
batted.
So
we
can
presume
that
hand
injury
isn’t
serious.
But
thereafter,
it
seemed
the
old
hamstring
problem
resurfaced
once
again
and
it
might
take
some
time
before
he
is
fully
fit
and
available.

“They
are
trying
to
sort
it
out.
Hamstring
injuries
normally
take
four
weeks
which
could
effectively
rule
him
out
of
Test
series,”
a
senior
BCCI
source
told
PTI
on
Monday.
As
of
now,
the
extent
of
Rohit’s
injury
is
not
very
clear.
It
is
not
known
whether
it’s
a
strain
which
is
a
less
serious
injury
or
a
tear,
which
will
have
to
be
graded.

“There
are
some
issues
but
the
medical
team
is
trying
to
sort
it
out,”
a
source
close
to
the
cricketer
told
PTI.

The
BCCI
is
yet
to
share
the
details
of
his
scan
report
which
will
ascertain
the
degree
of
the
injury.
“Any
hamstring
injury,
even
the
lowest
grade
takes
a
month
to
heal
with
rehabilitation
sessions.
In
Tests
we
have
Mayank
Agarwal
ready
to
open
with
KL
Rahul,
who
could
potentially
be
the
vice-captain.

“And
now
we
have
Priyank
Panchal
also
as
cover.
We
would
be
hoping
that
he
is
fit
and
ready
for
the
ODI
series,”
the
source
added.

It
is
learnt
that
Panchal
reported
at
the
team
hotel
this
evening.
“Panchal
has
been
asked
to
report
at
the
Mumbai
team
hotel
tonight.
He
is
there
as
a
cover
for
Rohit.
Also
because
he
recently
played
in
South
Africa
and
scored
runs,
he
was
asked
to
join,”
an
official
associated
with
the
India
A
team
informed.

Panchal
is
no
greenhorn
as
he
has
100
first-class
matches
under
his
belt
with
7011
runs,
including
24
hundreds.
He
has
been
a
part
of
a
very
successful
Gujarat
team
that
won
the
Ranji
Trophy
under
Parthiv
Patel
and
has
been
an
India
A
captain.

He
was
fighting
for
the
reserve
opener’s
slot
with
Abhimanyu
Easwaran
but
pipped
the
Bengal
man
as
the
latter
batted
at
No.3
in
the
A
series.