Injured Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of Asia Cup 2022, Axar Patel named replacement

In what can be called a major blow for Team India, Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 due to an injury in his right knee. As a result, Axar Patel, who was among the standbys in the squad, has been named Jadeja’s replacement. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the same in an official statement on Friday (September 2).

Jadeja’s ouster is indeed a massive setback for India as the all-rounder has been on a roll lately. He scored a match-winning 35 in India’s opening clash against Pakistan and was clinical with the ball in the following contest against Hong Kong. The onus will now be on Axar, who’s a like-to-like replacement for the Saurashtra-based all-rounder. However, it remains to be seen if Patel is directly inducted in the playing XI or the team management goes with another player.

Team India has qualified for Super 4 

Meanwhile, India, having won both their matches in the group stage, have advanced to the Super 4 round and they’ll meet either arch-rivals Pakistan or Hong Kong in their upcoming contest, which will take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (September 4).

It must be noted that Hardik Pandya has been bowling well lately and Team India might continue to opt for Rishabh Pant instead of adding another all-rounder in the line-up. The southpaw, who was benched for the Pakistan clash, featured in the last game as Hardik was given rest. With Jadeja ruled out of the competition now, the dasher might get some more chances to prove his mettle. 

In this case, the team management might also opt bringing in a spinner in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravi Bishnoi at the expense of Avesh Khan, who was expensive in the previous two games. 

India’s squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan