India will be without Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur for the rest of the Asia Cup after the trio were all ruled out through injury.
Pandya picked up his injury bowling in India’s convincing eight wicket win over Pakistan. He had to be stretchered off the pitch after clutching his back in his follow-through. Indian management have since confirmed that he suffered from an acute lower back spasm. Deepak Chahar joins the squad as Pandya’s replacement.
Pandya wasn’t the only player to sustain an injury during the Pakistan game, as Axar Patel suffered one to his left index finger whilst fielding. While scans showed that the finger is not broken, they did confirm that it has a tendon tear. Ravindra Jadeja, who is fourth in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for bowling in Test cricket but has not played ODI cricket in over a year, is called up to the squad as Patel’s replacement.
Shardul Thakur is the third Indian player ruled out of the tournament as he experienced soreness in the right hip after their game against Hong Kong earlier in the week. Replacing Thakur is Siddharth Kaul who has played two ODIs.
India have won their opening two games in the Asia Cup and have advanced to the Super Four stage that starts on Friday.