JOIN USSehwag will, however, play in the third Test at Newlands in Cape Town starting on Sunday, team manager Ranjib Biswal confirmed on Thursday.
The right-hander has been carrying a shoulder injury for a while now, and it kept him out of
successive World T20s in England last year and in the Caribbean this year. The move to rest him from this series is more precautionary in nature, it is learnt, what with the World Cup in the sub-continent just round the corner.
His unavailability is a blow of sorts because this is India’s last one-day competition before the World Cup. Sehwag wasn’t a part of the one-day series at home against New Zealand either, and India were looking forward to putting out their best side for this five-match showdown, especially with Sachin Tendulkar too not having played a one-dayer since this February.
Mumbai middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma has been named Sehwag’s replacement, while Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay will stay on as the 17th playing member of the squad, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a press release.