IND v WI : KL Rahul and Axar Patel ruled out of the T20 series
India vice-captain KL Rahul and left-arm spinner Axar Patel have been ruled out of the three-match T20 series against the West Indies, starting from February 16. Rahul sustained a hamstring injury during the second ODI. Meanwhile, Patel has started his rehabilitation after recovering from COVID19, which means he would be unavailable for the T20 series.
Rahul didn’t feature in the ongoing third ODI against the Men In Maroon. Patel was unavailable for the ODI series but was expected to be available for the T20 series. These players will be replaced by Deepak Hooda, who made his ODI debut on February 6, and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is yet to make his international debut.
“Vice-captain KL Rahul and all-rounder Axar Patel have been ruled out of the upcoming three-match T20I series against the West Indies to be played in Kolkata from 16th February, 2022.
‘Rahul sustained an upper left hamstring strain during fielding in the 2nd ODI on 9th February 2022 while Axar has resumed the final stage of his rehabilitation after recently recovering from Covid-19. They will now head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further management of their injury.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Hooda as replacements,” the BCCI said in an official release.
India’s T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda.
The Rohit Sharma-led side has got a golden opportunity to clean sweep the West Indies side for the first time in the history of ODI cricket. The team won every ODI series against the Caribbean team since 2007 but has never been able to clean sweep them.
