Daily Times

NEW DELHI: All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and right-arm fast bowlers Deepak Chahar and Siddarth Kaul have been added to the Indian One-Day International squad for the remainder of 2018 Asia Cup in place of the injured trio of Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Thursday.

Pandya was stretchered off the field during the league encounter against Pakistan after sustaining an acute lower back injury. The incident took place in the 18th over of the Pakistan innings when he was bowling his fifth over. On his fifth delivery Pandya, after completing his follow through, immediately went down and looked to be in considerable pain. He was unable to get up and was stretchered off the field. Pandya had figures 4.5-0-24-0 at the time. The release also read that Thakur experienced right hip and groin soreness after the game against Hong Kong, while left-arm spinner Axar injured his left index finger while fielding in the game against Pakistan. Axar was then sent for scans and the results showed that he had a tendon tear. Jadeja, who last featured in an ODI in July 2017, is currently representing Saurashtra in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. The 29-year-old was recently with the Indian Test squad in England for throughout the five-match series, but only played in the last game at the Oval where he picked up seven wickets and scored an unbeaten 86 in India’s first innings.

Ever since the emergence of the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, Jadeja and R Ashwin have failed to break into India’s limited-overs team. However, considering the tracks in United Arab Emirates (UAE), it won’t come as a huge surprise if Jadeja gets included in the playing XI. Apart from being a street-smart left-arm spinner, Jadeja is also a good lower-order batsman, and his fielding exploits are well documented. Meanwhile, Chahar was part of the India squad for the three-match Twenty20 International series against England in July, coming in place of Jasprit Bumrah following his thumb injury. He played the third game of the series – which India won 2-1 — picking up 1 for 43 in his four overs.

The 26-year-old has been hugely impressive since turning out for Chennai Super Kings during the Indian Premier League 2018. He picked up 10 wickets during the tournament and was subsequently picked in the India A squad for the tri-series against England A and Windies A in June. He once again shone through picking up 10 scalps in four outings including career-best List A figures of 5 for 27 against Windies A, as India A finished won the series convincingly. He more recently was part of the India A squad for the Quadrangular series held in Bengaluru. In 19 List A game, Chahar has so far picked up 34 wickets at 20.32 and an impressive economy of 4.92. He is a decent lower order batsman as well. The 28-year-old Kaul, who made his India debut in a T20I in June 2018 against Ireland, has also played two ODIs in England. Likewise Jadeja, Kaul and Chahar too are currently involved in the 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy. After beating Hong Kong and Pakistan in group encounters, India will now face Bangladesh on September 21, Pakistan on September 23 and Afghanistan on September 25 in the Super Four ties.

Updated squad:

Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, K Khaleel Ahmed.

Published in Daily Times, September 21^st 2018.