Daily Times

NEW DELHI: Team India can breathe a huge sigh of relief as all-rounder Kedar Jadhav, who had hurt his left shoulder during the recently-concluded IPL, has been declared fully fit for the upcoming World Cup, which gets underway in the United Kingdom from May 30. The 34-year-old Jadhav’s participation in the World Cup was doubtful after he had sustained a shoulder injury while fielding during an IPL-12 match between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab on May 5 in Mohali.

He had immediately left the field and it was reported that he would be out of action for at least two weeks. “We have got the medical certificate declaring Jadhav is fit to play in the World Cup. He will travel to the UK with the rest of the squad on Wednesday,” chief selector MSK Prasad informed said Monday.

Team India physio Patrick Farhart was called back from Australia to aid in Jadhav’s rehabilitation from injury over the last two weeks. The duo have been staying in Mumbai and a fitness test on Jadhav was conducted last Thursday in Mumbai. “We received the fitness certificate from Farhart on Monday and we are satisfied with the report. Jadhav should be available for India’s first game against South Africa,” Prasad said. As per the ICC rules, changes in the 15-member preliminary squad are permitted till May 23.

Speculation was rife that if Jadhav did not recover, either Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant or Axar Patel could replace him in the squad. Jadhav has scored 1174 runs in 59 ODIs with a strike rate of 102.53, having made his 50-over debut against Sri Lanka in 2014. India will start their World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 5. They will play warm-up matches on May 25 and 28 against New Zealand and Bangladesh respectively.