New Delhi: Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the remainder of the Asia Cup 2022 due to a knee injury. Axar Patel, who was part of the standby players has been named as his replacement. The management has tried to get a like-for-like replacement in this case.
Jadeja has suffered an injury and some issues with the right knee in the past also. He missed the ODIs in India’s tour of the West Indies in July due to an injury in his right knee. Though the severity of the injury is not known as of now, fans are hoping that he recovers before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in October.
Ravindra Jadeja has been one of the top performers for India in the two games played in the Asia Cup so far. He scored a crucial 35 off 29 balls and his left-hand batting also helped India counter the threat of Shadab Khan. In the game against Hong Kong, he contributed with the ball and took a wicket for just 15 runs in his quota of four overs. His exceptional fielding services will surely be missed by the Indian team for the remaining tournament.
Axar Patel has replaced Jadeja previously also and has performed well. He has been in a good form lately and is the best option India has right now. Axar has played 25 T20Is so far, taking 21 wickets with an economy of 7.33. In the 17 innings he came in to bat, he scored 147 runs at an average of 18.37 with a strike rate of 137.38.
Now a thing to watch out for is the team combination. The question here is whether the Indian team go for the like-to-like replacement in the playing XI or will they prefer Ravichandran Ashwin in the spot of an all-rounder. It will surely be a challenge to play without Jadeja as he provided a balance to the side by covering all three departments nicely.
