Team India have suffered a massive blow ahead of the high-profile Test series against South Africa as experienced seamer Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the same due to an injury. Additionally, Deepak Chahar will miss the ODI series, beginning on December 17th, with Akash Deep named as his replacement.
It earlier emerged that Shami was nursing an ankle injury, having played all the matches of the 2023 World Cup due to which the selectors rested him from the limited-overs leg in South Africa. The 33-year-old's absence will likely hurt the tourists as they aim to win their first away series over South Africa.
Shami was also India's leading wicket-taker during the 2021-22 tour, picking up 14 wickets in 3 Tests at 21. Nevertheless, the selectors haven't named a replacement, given they have Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna to choose from in their playing XI.
Deepak Chahar ruled out due to family emergency:
Meanwhile, Chahar has been ruled out of the ODI series due to an emergency, with Bengal seamer Akash Deep roped in as replacement. In 28 List A matches, the right-arm seamer has picked up 42 scalps at 24.50 apiece.
BCCI also informed that Shreyas Iyer will only play in the opening ODI and will link up with the squad for the intra-squad practice fixture ahead of the Tests. Also, Rahul Dravid, Vikram Rathour, and Paras Mhambrey will not be part of the ODI series and will return to their coaching duties for the red-ball games.
The India A coaching staff of batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, bowling coach Rajib Datta and fielding coach Ajay Ratra will oversee the ODI series.
