Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav To Miss England ODIs and T20Is
Dec 27, 2016 at 10:00 AM
Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Indian team have been dealt with twin blows as left-arm spinner Axar Patel and all-rounder Jayant Yadav have been ruled out of the limited-overs series against England, which starts on January 15. Axar, who was called in as a back up for Ravindra Jadeja a night before the start of the fifth Test at Chennai, injured himself on the field while acting as a substitute fielder. He was trying to catch Liam Dawson at boundary ropes and accidently landed on his thumb, after attempting an unsuccessful catch. He has now suffered a ligament tear on his bowling thumb and has been ruled out for few week. He’ll also miss the semi-finals, which starts on January 1.
On the other hand, Jayant Yadav is yet to recover from a hamstring injury which he suffered before the start of the Chennai Test.
Both Axar and Jayant make it to the long list of injured players as Indian team will also miss the services of Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, and Mohammed Shami during the ODI series. All these players have been ruled out due to injuries. This will now open the doors for youngsters like Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Priyank Panchal, who have done well in Ranji Trophy so far. One also cannot rule out the possibility of inclusion of Shahbaz Nadeem or Kuldeep Yadav in the squad. Surely, these two names will be discussed during the selection meeting, which is likely to take place either on January 5 or 6.