India were give a huge injury scare just hours before the team takes on Ireland in the first of the two T20Is at Dublin on Wednesday. All-rounder Washington Sundar injured himself during the team’s training session on Wednesday and hobbled off the field.
The 18-year-old landed awkwardly on his right ankle during a game of football and had to be attended to by team physio Patrick Farhat and trainer Shankar Basu immediately.
The extent of Sundar’s injury is not yet known and the BCCI are yet to make an official announcement regarding the same. The youngster has also been picked for India’s T20 and ODI squads for the series against England and as such, it remains to be seen if he can continue to play.
Washington Sundar suffered a minor injury while playing Football with the Team. He was seen limping out of the Training helped by Physio Patrick Farhat and Trainer Shankar Basu. #IREvIND #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ixzzuvp3MT
— Swapnil Shanbhag (@swapniltalks) June 27, 2018
In case the all-rounder’s injury is long term, India have a wealth of options to replace him with the India ‘A’ side currently touring England for a tri-series. The likes of Krunal Pandya and Axar Patel could fill in the spinning all-rounder’s slot in the team in case Sundar is ruled out.
Sundar has so far played one ODI and six T20Is for India already in his career so far and was adjudged as the player of the series in the Nidahas T20I tri-series held in Sri Lanka earlier this year.
With his injury on Wednesday, Sundar is unlikely to feature in the first T20I against Ireland. With India naming a strong squad for the series which serves as a precursor to their long tour of England, Sundar’s chances of being named in the playing XI were already slim as it is.
In the latest net session for team India, skipper Virat Kohli was seen in action while Manish Pandey had an extended session with the bat along with pacers Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With Pandey’s extended session, it is likely that the batsman could feature in the playing XI on Wednesday which could cause Dinesh Karthik to miss out.
INDIA LIKELY XI
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (wk), Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
