Dhaka – A recurrence of a thigh injury sidelined Bangladesh opening batsman Imrul Kayes from the Tigers squad for the one-off Test against India which is scheduled to begin at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.Imrul has been replaced by Mosaddek Hossain who played in the ODIs and T20s series against New Zealand, but was overlooked for the Tests.In absence of Imrul, Soumya Sarkar is likely to open the batting alongside Tamim Iqbal. Soumya replaced Imrul in Bangladesh’s last Test in Christchurch, opening for the first time in Tests and played innings of 86 and 36.Imrul suffered the injury in his left thigh while fielding on day 2 of the Bangladesh’s tour match against India A that concluded at Gymkhana Ground, Hyderabad on Monday. According to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) media manager Rabeed Imam, it is a recurrence of the same injury that ruled Kayes out of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch last month.Imrul has a modest Test record – 1432 runs at average 28.64 — but formed Bangladesh’s most successful opening partnership with Tamim Iqbal. They together have scored 2205 runs, and average an impressive 47.93 as a pair with four century stands.Bangladesh Test squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Liton Das (wk), Mominul Haque, Shafiul Islam and Mosaddek Hossain.UNB
