Navdeep Saini ruled out of New Zealand ‘A’ series, Umesh Yadav named Mohammed Shami's replacement

India's fast bowling contingent suffered another blow on Sunday as the BCCI revealed a groin injury to express pacer Navdeep Saini. The pacer sustained the injury during the Duleep Trophy semi-final match between North Zone and South Zone, ruling him out of the ongoing tournament. He will also miss the upcoming three-match one-day series between India A and New Zealand A.

Saini, who dazzled with his performance in the county championship with Kent earlier this year, will travel to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for a further assessment of his unfortunate injury. Though the extent of his injury has not been revealed yet, BCCI has stated that he would play no further part in the Duleep Trophy and has been sidelined for India A's ODI series against New Zealand A, too.

The selection committee has called up all-rounder Rishi Dhawan as the replacement for the injured Saini in the India A squad.

Updated India A squad: Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Rajat Patidar, Sanju Samson (Captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Rahul Chahar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Sen, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Rishi Dhawan, Raj Angad Bawa.

Umesh Yadav replaces Mohammed Shami in the Indian squad for the Australia series

The official statement by the apex cricketing body also provided an update on Indian star pacer Mohammed Shami, who has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Australia, following a positive Covid-19 test. Veteran Indian pacer Umesh Yadav has been named the replacement for Shami in the Indian squad.

Shami has been omitted from the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup and was named in the reserves. He would've hoped for an opening in the playing XI on the back of impressive performances in the upcoming T20I series against Australia and South Africa, only to be struck down by Covid-19.

Updated India squad for the Australia series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.