The BCCI confirmed that all-rounder Washington Sundar will miss the rest of the ODI series against New Zealand due to side strain. The BCCI called up the 26-year-old Ayush Badoni as Sunder's replacement, handing him his maiden national call-up.
Badoni, who has played 27 List A games, scoring 693 runs and chipping in with 18 wickets, will link up with the squad in Rajkot, the venue for the second ODI, starting on Wednesday. "India all-rounder Washington Sundar reported an acute onset discomfort in his left lower rib area while bowling during the first ODI against New Zealand at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara, on Sunday.
He will undergo further scans, following which the BCCI Medical Team will seek expert opinion. Washington has been ruled out of the remaining two matches of the ODI series. "The Men’s Selection Committee has named Ayush Badoni as his replacement. Badoni will link up with the squad in Rajkot, the venue for the second ODI,” the BCCI said in their statement.
This is the second injury blow that India have suffered for the ODI series after Rishabh Pant, who was ruled out just a couple of days before the first ODI in Vadodara. The wicketkeeper-batter was ruled out of the ODI series after suffering a side strain last week, with Dhruv Jurel replacing him in the squad.
Tilak Varma, who underwent surgery for a groin injury, was ruled out of the first three T20Is of the five-game series that is set to begin on January 21 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. This is a significant setback for the hosts, especially with the home T20 World Cup upcoming.
Currently, the all-rounder is also part of India's World Cup squad, but it remains uncertain whether the dependable yet injury-prone Sundar will recover in time for the T20I series.
India’s updated squad for 2nd and 3rd ODIs: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ayush Badoni