ENG vs IND: BCCI announces Washington Sundar's replacements for limited-overs series

Indian team is eager to take on England team but there are two big blows for the visitors as their two game-changers Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar got ruled out of limited-overs series starting from third of July. While Bumrah has a chance to make a comeback for ODI series, Sundar has been deemed unfit for both T20I and ODI series due to ankle injury.

BCCI selection committee was quick to announce replacements for both the bowlers. CSK pacer Deepak Chahar is all set to take the place of Jasprit Bumrah. Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya is ready to replace Washington Sundar for T20I series and Axar Patel will take his place in ODI series.

Both Krunal Pandya and Axar Patel are currently with the India A squad in England, playing the 50-over tri-series also featuring England Lions and West Indies A. The India A side will take on England Lions in the final on 2nd July after which the duo will travel to join the national team for the limited-overs series.

Maiden call-up for Krunal

For Krunal Pandya, it is his maiden national call-up. He had a decent outing in the IPL 2018, where he played 14 matches and picked 12 wickets by adding 228 runs for his Mumbai Indians side with the willow. He had a batting strike-rate of 145 and a bowling average of 24 in the recently concluded cash-rich season. His all-round skills will surely help the Indian team in the middle-order.

Axar Patel had represented the KXIP franchise in only 9 occasions in IPL 2018 owing to injury. He wasn’t at his best in the tournament as he picked only three wickets and scored 80 runs with the bat. However, with the likes of Chahal and Kuldeep in the side, it is unlikely to include Axar Patel in the playing XI. The T20I series will start from third of July and ODI series will take place from 12th July.