Both Avesh and Washington sustained their injuries while turning up for County XI in the first-class warm-up game against their own side. This was done after multiple players in the home team were ruled out either due to injury or because of COVID-19 isolation.
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, starting November 25, before regular skipper Virat Kohli returns to take charge from the second Test in Mumbai.
List of players released by IPL teams ahead of next month's auction for 2020 season:
Will Captain Virat Kohli continue to change the team for the 39th game in a row?
Kohli's deputy Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the final three Tests.
With an eye on the gruelling Australia series that follows the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League, the Indian Tests specialists including Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari have begun preparations for the pink ball Test against Australia at the ICC Academy in Dubai, from Friday evening.
New Zealand pace bowler Kyle Jamieson enjoyed a dream start to his Test career on the opening day of the first match against India as he captured three wickets and also took a catch in the deep as the tourists limped to 122-5 after rain washed out the entire post-tea session. Ajinkya Rahane was on 38 at stumps at the Basin Reserve on Friday, while the recalled Rishabh Pant was 10 not out, with the 2.03m tall Jamieson tormenting batsmen with his ability to get the ball to rear off a length.
Virat, Ishant set to return for England series starting Feb 5 as selection for first two Tests takes place on Tuesday.
India will be desperately hoping that Rohit replicates his limited overs success in the traditional format
ODI vice-captain Rohit has been in sublime form of late and is part of the Test squad touring the West Indies. He was not picked for the first Test with Rahane and Vihari doing well in the series opener, it is unlikely he will feature in the second and final Test.
Ravichandran Ashwin termed India's first innings score as slightly below par on a "two-paced" Wanderers pitch, but added that it could be enough for their bowling arsenal to make a match of the second Test against South Africa.
Young opener Shubman Gill and pacer Mohammed Siraj will make their Test debuts in the second Boxing Day Test against Australia, starting in Melbourne, on Saturday.
Openers Mayank Agarwal and Priyank Panchal struck fine half-centuries as India A registered a comfortable seven-wicket victory over the West Indies A in the second unofficial Test, in Port of Spain, on Saturday.
India 'A' bowlers fought back with a flurry of wickets in the final session to reduce the West Indies 'A' to 243 for five, on Day 1 of the second unofficial Test.
Kohli will be wary of the challenge that can be posed by the new ball pair of Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel
Following is a fact box on the final Test of the four-match series between Australia and India
Openers Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill fell for ducks as India 'A' batsmen struggled on the opening day of their three-day practice match against Australia 'A' at the Drummoyne Oval, in Sydney, on Sunday.
Images from Day 1 of the Day-Night Tour match played in Sydney on Friday.
Buoyed by their crushing 157-run victory in the fourth Test at The Oval on Monday, a confident Indian team will seek to continue their winning momentum in the fifth and final Test against England at Manchester.
India 'A' scored 247 for 3 in 65 overs in their second innings when the match was called off.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, India A declared their first innings after some useful contributions from the lower-order batsmen. The visitors were 340 for five at stumps on the opening day at the Bay Oval.
India 'A' scored 340 for five with four of the visiting batsmen, including young opener Prithvi Shaw, striking fluent half-centuries in the first unofficial Test against New Zealand 'A', in Mount Maunganui, on Friday.
The Indian squad started preparations for the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide from Friday evening itself with pink balls.
Has the long due transition phase kicked in for India's Test team?
Australia batsman Steve Smith was slammed on social media for scuffing the wicket with his foot in an attempt to remove Rishabh Pant's guard marks at the crease, on Day 5 of the third Test in Sydney on Monday.
Pujara already has a three-year contract with Yorkshire and is set to play there again.
Rohit Sharma is certain to replace Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order against Australia in the third Test, starting in Sydney from Thursday.
A summary of Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday
Vihari said he has been preparing for the South Africa series at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
KL Rahul gave a timely reminder to the Indian team management with a sublime first-class hundred against Select County XI on the opening day of the warm-up game in Durham on Tuesday.
Bangar tips Rohit for success at the top in Tests
Only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Waugh have won more matches than Kohli as captain in Test cricket.
Selection committee to mull over option with KL Rahul struggling at the top.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha hit a gutsy half-century to help India A escape with a draw against Australia A, on the third and final day of their practice match at Drummoyne Oval, in Sydney, on Tuesday.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the fourth Test?
India captain Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will be rested for the limited-overs series against the West Indies, scheduled in the United States and the Caribbean, from August 3. Kohli and Bumrah will, however, be back for the two-Test series, which is a part of the inaugural World Test Championship.
India were 98 for 2 at close of play on the fourth day of the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, still 308 runs behind Australia and a full day's batting away from saving the match.
While BCCI, as of now, will not give up its hosting rights and wait how the COVID-19 situation in India pans out, there is very little chance that countries will want to travel to India which is facing its worst health emergency since independence.
All eyes will be on the opening fixture between defending champions Saurashtra and record 41-time champions Mumbai in Ahmedabad with Rahane and Pujara on either side, aiming to make the big scores that have deserted them at the Test level for a while.
It would be interesting to see who India leave out to play Rohit Sharma
