Axar Patel ruled out of first Chepauk Test with knee injury

Axar Patel, who was on the line for an international return, has suffered a knee injury just ahead of the first Test against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and thus has been ruled out of the Test match. Even though India decided not to release the playing XI the way they did […]
 
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Axar Patel ruled out of first Chepauk Test with knee injury

Axar Patel, who was on the line for an international return, has suffered a knee injury just ahead of the first Test against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and thus has been ruled out of the Test match.

Even though India decided not to release the playing XI the way they did in the Australia series, it was quite clear from the beginning that Axar Patel will make his Test debut and share the spin duties with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin but that has taken a massive hit in the morning of the Test match.

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A BCCI media release stated that the 27-year-old complained of pain in his left knee during the team’s optional practice session on Thursday and thus has been sidelined from the squad.

“Axar Patel has been ruled out of the first Paytm Test against England. The all-rounder complained of pain in his left knee during Team India’s optional training session on Thursday. He is being monitored by the BCCI Medical Team and while his detailed reports are awaited, he will not be available for selection for the opening match,” BCCI said in the statement.

Axar Patel ruled out of first Chepauk Test with knee injury

Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar added to squad as Axar Patel replacement

Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar, who had been kept as back-up in the series, have been thus added to the squad. It is not yet clear if Nadeem, who had an impressive Test debut last year against South Africa in Ranchi, will get a nod.

The reason Axar was a front-runner for a starting role was because of the fact that he was almost a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja, who has been ruled out of the first two Tests for the injury sustained during the Sydney Test.