India have called up uncapped duo of Deepak Chahar and Krunal Pandya as replacements for the injured duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar for the forthcoming T20I series against England.
Both Bumrah and Sundar have been ruled out of the series owing to injuries. Bumrah sustained an injury to his left thumb while fielding in the first T20 against Ireland. Bumrah, a key death-overs bowler, did not take part in the optional nets and was benched for the second match on Friday. On the other hand, Sundar sustained an ankle injury while playing football during India’s first practice session in Malahide. He had hobbled off the field within India’s first hour of training prior to the first T20I.
And the team management has now pinned its hopes on Chahar and Krunal. Both the players have received their maiden T20I call-up.
Washington Sundar, who was also in India’s ODI squad has been replaced by Axar Patel.
Both Chahar and Krunal are part of the India A side, which is through to the final of the ongoing ODI triangular series involving West Indies A and hosts England.
Chahar, who was an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings side that won IPL 2018, has done very well so far. He has taken 13 wickets including a 5-wicket haul in his five List-A games . In the ongoing series, he is India A’s leading wicket-taker with seven wickets in three matches at an economy rate of just over 4.
On the other hand, Krunal has not managed to impress, scoring just three runs and taking two wickets in three matches. However, the allrounder has proved his worth with his consistent performances in the IPL for Mumbai Indians over the last two seasons.
The T20I series gets underway on July 3 in Manchester. They travel to Cardiff for the second T20I three days later and the final T20I will be on July 8 at Bristol. The ODI series will start on July 12.
India T20I squad:
Virat Kohli (Captain); Shikhar Dhawan; Rohit Sharma; KL Rahul; Suresh Raina; Manish Pandey; MS Dhoni (WK); Dinesh Karthik; Yuzvendra Chahal; Kuldeep Yadav; Krunal Pandya; Bhuvneshwar Kumar; Hardik Pandya; Siddarth Kaul; Umesh Yadav; Deepak Chahar.
India’s ODI squad:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(WK), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav