Ashwin replaces injured Axar in India's World Cup Squad
Guwahati: Ravichandran Ashwin has replaced Axar Patel in the India’s 15-member 50-Over World Cup squad as the latter has not recovered from a left quadriceps strain and is understood to require another three weeks to attain full fitness.
This will be Ashwin’s 3rd 50-over World Cup appearance who was recently drafted into the squad against 3-match one-day series against Australia. The off spinner picked four wickets from two games including 3/41 in Indore.
The development became apparent when Ashwin landed with the Indian team in Guwahati to train ahead of their World Cup warm-up game against England on Saturday, and Axar didn't.
It was soon confirmed by ICC through an official post.
"Axar Patel has failed to recover in time for the World Cup after sustaining a left quadriceps strain during India’s Asia Cup Super Four encounter against Bangladesh. The spin-bowling all-rounder missed the final of the Asia Cup as a result," the ICC said in an official release.
"Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been named his replacement, who was impressive on his return to ODI cricket in the recently concluded series against Australia where he picked up four wickets in two games."
India's World Cup campaign starts on 8th October against Australia in Chennai, where the pitches have been quite slow and assisted spin bowlers.
Ashwin, who has played quite a few matches at the venue for India and Chennai Super Kings, will be quite a handy weapon for skipper Rohit Sharma.