The Indian selection committee has decided to make three changes to the Indian squad for the ongoing Asia Cup owing to injuries to three members of the team. Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur have been ruled out with Deepak Chahar, Ravindra Jadeja and Siddharth Kaul being asked to join the team on Thursday.
All-rounder Pandya suffered an acute lower back spasm during the game against Pakistan and is undergoing treatment and assessment by the BCCI medical team. He will be unavailable for the remainder of the series. Chahar will replace Pandya in the squad.
Left-arm spinner Axar injured his left index finger while fielding in the game against Pakistan. He was sent for scans and the results showed that he had a tendon tear. He will be unavailable for the remainder of the series. Jadeja will replace Axar in the squad.
Right-arm pacer Shardul Thakur too experienced right hip and groin soreness after the game against Hong Kong. He will be unavailable for the remainder of the series. Siddharth Kaul will replace Shardul in the squad as per the BCCI release.
Having thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan, India will next play Bangladesh in their opening Super Four encounter in Dubai on Friday. For India, the worry will be the team combination as Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the tournament owing to back spasms, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar might be rested after back-to-back games against Hong Kong and Pakistan.
{{/usCountry}}Having thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan, India will next play Bangladesh in their opening Super Four encounter in Dubai on Friday. For India, the worry will be the team combination as Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the tournament owing to back spasms, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar might be rested after back-to-back games against Hong Kong and Pakistan.
{{/usCountry}}Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed may come in place of Bhuvneshwar but it is still not clear as to who would be Pandya’s replacement in the playing XI, although with Jadeja being called in, he could be the third spinner who can also bat.