India dealt body blow as Axar Patel ruled out of remainder of T20I series against South Africa, BCCI names replacement

Axar Patel ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against South Africa. Here's who will replace him in the squad.

The Suryakumar Yadav-led India were dealt a body blow ahead of the fourth and fifth T20Is against South Africa as all-rounder Axar Patel was ruled out of the remainder of the five-match series. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued an official statement, confirming that the 31-year-old will play no further part in the series due to illness. It has also been confirmed that Axar is currently with the team in Lucknow, the venue for the fourth T20I between India and the Proteas.

Axar Patel ruled out of T20I series against South Africa. (PTI)

Axar will be undergoing further medical assessment in Lucknow. The Men's Senior Selection Committee have now added Shahbaz Ahmed as the replacement for Axar for the final two T20Is, set to be played in Lucknow (December 17) and Ahmedabad (December 19).

Earlier, Axar had also missed the third T20I at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala due to illness. The hosts bounced back strongly in the third match of the five-match series, winning the contest by seven wickets to gain a 2-1 lead.

In the opening two T20Is against South Africa, Axar returned with scores of 23 and 21, and he also managed to take three wickets. The second T20I in Mullanpur also saw Axar being promoted to No.3 when India were set a target of 214. However, this move was criticised by several pundits, including Ravichandran Ashwin.

Jasprit Bumrah part of the T20I squad

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the third T20I due to personal reasons, is a part of the squad, and he's likely to make a comeback in the fourth game. Earlier, news agency PTI reported that a close family member of Bumrah's was hospitalised, which was the reason behind his absence from the match.

“If all goes well, then he might return for the fourth or even fifth game (in Ahmedabad). But first priority is the recovery of his family member,” a BCCI source told news agency PTI.

In the first T20I, Bumrah became the second Indian bowler after Arshdeep Singh to take 100 wickets in the format. However, he had an outing to forget in the second T20I, leaking more than 40 runs as South Africa piled on more than 210 runs on the board.

India’s updated squad for the last two T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed.