Washington Sundar Ruled Out of T20I Series Against New Zealand Due to Rib Injury

New Delhi: India all-rounder Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, as he is still recovering from a rib injury he suffered during the ODI series opener in Vadodara, sources told IANS on Thursday.  The five-match T20I series, which is set to begin on January 21 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, is part of India’s preparation for the T20 World Cup, which starts on February 7.

It remains unclear whether the all-rounder will recover in time for the marquee tournament. “Washington is ruled out of the T20Is against New Zealand, as he would take at least a few more weeks to recover from the injury suffered in the Vadodara ODI. It is yet to be known if he will be fully fit in time for the T20 World Cup,” said a source familiar with the matter to IANS.

The source further said, “Washington is likely to report to the CoE in Bengaluru on Saturday and will know more about his recovery timeline once he reaches there.” This is the second injury blow that India have suffered for the T20I series after Tilak Varma, who underwent surgery for a groin injury, was ruled out of the first three T20Is of the five-game series. Earlier, Sundar was also ruled out of the ongoing ODI series after he reported an acute onset discomfort in his left lower rib area while bowling during the first ODI against New Zealand at the BCA Stadium last Sunday and underwent further scans.

The BCCI called up the 26-year-old Ayush Badoni as Sunder’s replacement, handing him his maiden national call-up. Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma (unavailable for first three games), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wk)