Fact Check: Rohit Sharma Injured Ahead Of First Test Against South Africa

New Delhi: Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team is set to compete against Temba Bavuma’s South Africa in the first Test of the two-match series at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, starting from 26 December. However, ahead of the big red-ball clash between two cricketing giants, rumours around Rohit’s injury have started surfacing on the internet.

An ‘X’ user by the name of ‘Rajiv1841’ tweeted about the Indian skipper catching an injury in his left thumb during the intra-squad practice match that might force him to miss out on the first Test match at Centurion. He wrote “Rohit Sharma got stuck on his left thumb badly during India Intra Squad practice match. He is doubtful for 1st test match.”

Bad News from South Africa:

Rohit Sharma got stuck on his left thumb badly during India Intra Squad practice match!!

He is doubtful for 1st test match pic.twitter.com/kwQPmehnh1

— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) December 20, 2023

However, India.com found that this is a fake news and the image posted by Rajiv from his X account is an old image from early this year during India’s visit to England for the WTC Final against Australia. The picture is of Rohit being examined after a ball hitting his thumb in a net session. India.com also confirmed from its sources in South Africa that Rohit is fit and will be leading the Indian side in the first Test.

Team India took part in a practice match on December 20. However, this was not streamed or broadcast anywhere. Currently, the Indian team led by KL Rahul is facing Proteas in the ODI series of this South Africa tour that is down to 1-1 after the first two ODIs. The decider will be played at the Boland Park in Paarl.

The upcoming red-ball series will be Rohit Sharma’s first assignment after the recently concluded ICC ODI World Cup 2023. The Indian team have never won a Test series in South Africa. They would like to put an end to this losing streak and finally conquer the Proteas’ land.

IND vs SA Test Squads

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne