Axar Patel suffers another injury ahead of the 4th ODI

Indian all-rounder Axar Patel who hurt his ankle just ahead of the opening One-Day International of the ongoing five-match series was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja. Though the left-arm spinner wasn’t included in the squad as the team is more than pleased with the way their wrist spin duo has been bowling. The selectors while announcing the squad for the last two matches made just one change bringing in Patel for Jadeja.

Now, on the eve of the 4th ODI in Bangalore, it is reported that the 23-year-old now hurt himself while batting at the nets. A reporter who was there at the stadium where the Indian team is practising for the contest posted the news on Twitter. The seriousness of the injury is unknown as there is no official confirmation yet from the team management.

Axar Patel suffers injury again. Hurts himself while batting at the nets. @sportstarweb

— Shayan Acharya (@ShayanAcharya) September 27, 2017

The Men in Blue having already taken control of the series trophy will aim for yet another win at Bangalore and would press hard for a whitewash. Chinnaswamy which has been a traditionally batting wicket is of late assisting the spinners. The ball grips on the surface and the game will not be a high-scoring affair, also the way Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have operated in tandem life will be difficult for the Australian batsmen. After Bangalore, the series will move to Nagpur where the 5th ODI will be played on October 1.

Australia have had their share of troubles with fitness and players failing to perform at par with the expectations in the subcontinent. While Aaron Finch missed the first two matches, Ashton Agar broke his finger in the 3rd match at Indore and has been ruled out of the remainder of the tour.

Team India, on the other hand, has most bases covered and they only need to think of the players they’d want to pick from the 15 for the last two games and ensure most in the team at least get a game.

India squad for the last two ODIs:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar