Washington Sundar out of limited-overs leg of England tour

In a second setback to the visiting Indian team, Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the entire limited-overs leg of the tour of England because of an ankle injury.

Sundar, the 18-year-old off-spinning all-rounder, suffered the injury while playing football during a training session in Malahide prior to the two-match Twenty20 International series against Ireland.

He missed those two games, both of which India won handsomely, and “subsequently underwent scans and was seen by a specialist”, according to a Board of Control for Cricket in India statement.

Unfortunately for the youngster, he hasn’t recovered, and will miss the three T20Is and three one-day internationals against England.

Krunal Pandya, the 27-year-old left-arm spinner and lower-order batsman – also Hardik Pandya's older brother – has been named as Sundar’s replacement in the T20I side, while Axar Patel, another left-arm spinner and handy batsman, has been brought in for the ODI series.

As reported earlier, Jasprit Bumrah, India’s premier white-ball paceman, will also miss the T20I series against England after fracturing his left thumb during the first T20I against Ireland. Bumrah still returned 2/19 in that game but sat out the second fixture.

Deepak Chahar, the uncapped 25-year-old right-arm paceman who was hugely impressive for Chennai Super Kings in the latest edition of the Indian Premier League, will be a part of the T20I squad in the absence of Bumrah.

Bumrah, the No.1 ODI bowler in the world, is expected to recover in time for the 50-over matches.

The T20Is will be played on 3, 6 and 8 July, while the ODIs will be played on 12, 14 and 17 July. The two teams will then play a five-match Test series in August-September.