Sundar replaces Deepak Chahar in India’s squad for rest of ODIs against South Africa

Ranchi : Off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar on Saturday was named as the replacement for fast-bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar in the remainder of India’s ODI series against South Africa, said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

In its official statement, BCCI added that “Chahar had a stiffness in his back after the third and final T20I against South Africa in Indore and did not feature in India’s Playing XI in the first ODI in Lucknow.”

As per the BCCI, Chahar, named as one of the four travelling reserves for the T20 World Cup in Australia to be held later in the month, will now head back to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and will be monitored by the Medical Team there.

Chahar had made a comeback to international cricket after a gap of six months, caused by quadriceps tear in February and then a back injury during the rehabilitation for the same, through India’s ODI tour of Zimbabwe in August.

He then was named as a reserve player for the Asia Cup and came into the main squad as a replacement for an ill Avesh Khan for India’s Super Four match against Afghanistan.

Washington had earlier landed heavily on his left shoulder while diving on the field during a Royal London One-Day Cup match for his county side Lancashire against Worcestershire on August 10. That injury forced him to pull out of India’s three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe.

2022 has been a stop-start year for Washington. Testing positive for Covid-19 meant he was forced to miss ODIs against South Africa in January after missing the England tour and second half of IPL 2021 due to finger injury.

Though he did play ODIs against West Indies at Ahmedabad in February, he was ruled out of subsequent T20Is against them and Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury. During IPL 2022, he injured his bowling hand while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad and had to miss a couple of matches. He then underwent rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in June.

India, who are 1-0 behind in the three-match series, will play the second ODI against South Africa in Ranchi on October 9 and will play the final match of the series in New Delhi on October 11.

India’s ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.