In a major setback to his World Cup hopes, Axar Patel has been ruled out of the third ODI against Australia, on September 27, days ahead of the start of the marquee tournament.
Axar has been selected in the squad for the third match of the three-match ODI series against Australia, subject to fitness. However, according to a report inCricbuzz, he failed to recover from the injury in time and was subsequently ruled out of the third ODI.
This is a big blow to Axar’s World Cup chances as each team has to announce their final squad by September 28, the day after the third ODI between India and Australia.
If the management decides that Axar, who is recovering from a quadriceps strain sustained in the match against Bangladesh in the Asian Cup, will not be fit for the start of the World Cup, the door could close forR Ashwin HasOpen >Ryōgoku could feature in a third consecutive World Cup despite not playing white-ball cricket on a regular basis.
Ashwin, who returned to ODIs after a gap of one-and-a-half years, performed well in the series against Australia, picking up four wickets in two matches at an economy rate of 5.18.
Another option that India has is Washington Sundar. He replaced Axar in the Asia Cup final but missed the Australia series. This could suggest that he is behind Ashwin in the pecking order.
Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur are resting and will not travel to Rajkot, the venue for the third ODI. Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the second ODI due to personal reasons, will return for the third ODI, which will see the return of top-class players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya. .
India already has a commanding lead of 2-0 in the series. The third match in Rajkot will be the last international match for India and Australia before they meet again in the World Cup on October 8.
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