India suffer big blow, Gambhir defends Kohli and more - Cricket News Today, 20th September 2018
The day after India-Pakistan game is always one filled with plenty of headlines and this one was no different. However, not all of them were what the Indian team would have wanted.
To begin with, three members of their Asia Cup 2018 squad have been ruled out of the tournament and their replacements have been named. Virat Kohli came in for criticism for skipping the Asia Cup while Sunil Gavaskar was critical of Fakhar Zaman and Dinesh Karthik.
Shahbaz Nadeem also made the headlines courtesy of his world record-breaking spell during the Vijay Hazare Trophy clash between Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
Here are all of today's important developments from the cricket world.
Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur ruled out of Asia Cup
Although India have won both their games and qualified for the Super Four of the Asia Cup 2018, they suffered a major setback as three players have been ruled out of the tournament.
While Hardik Pandya injured himself during the Pakistan game and was stretchered off after bowling just 4.5 overs, Axar Patel injured his left index finger while fielding as a substitute and Shardul Thakur was ruled out after complaining of "right hip and groin soreness after the game against Hong Kong".
"Axar injured his left index finger while fielding as a substitute during Wednesday's clash against Pakistan. Subsequent scans revealed a tendon tear," a BCCI press release read.
Replacing the trio of injured players will be Ravindra Jadeja, who returns to the Indian squad after more than a year after he last played an ODI for India, Siddarth Kaul and Deepak Chahar.
All three players didn't feature in their respective team's Vijay Hazare Trophy matches on Thursday and are expected to arrive in Dubai later in the day.