Shardul Thakur replaces harmed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for ODIs against West Indies
Shardul Thakur replaces harmed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for ODIs against West Indies

For the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies, India has included Shardul Thakur in place of the fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar. On Friday, Bhuvneshwar was ruled out of the three-match series due to a back injury.

The All India Senior Selection Committee has included Shardul Thakur in the squad for the upcoming Paytm ODI series against West Indies in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Bhubaneswar on Wednesday complained of pain in his right back after the last T20I in Mumbai. He performed an ultrasound scan done by a specialist and the BCCI medical team found that his player’s hernia symptoms had reappeared. Now the opinion of an expert will be sought, and according to the BCCI release, their management plan will be decided accordingly.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been battling injuries since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. He had to play the game that season with a back injury. Bhubaneswar struggled in India’s high-profile tour of England in T20Is and ODIs and eventually returned home during the Test series due to injury.

Shardul Thakur replaces harmed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for ODIs against West Indies

Bhubaneswar was also battling hamstring injuries in the World Cup 2019. Notably, the Indian fast bowler found a middle ground during a high-profile encounter against Pakistan in Manchester.

After dropping out of the home series against South Africa and Bangladesh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his comeback in the T20I against the West Indies. Bhubaneswar raised another hamstring issue during India’s 2–1 win against the West Indies earlier this week. He played all 3 T20Is.

Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur has not played for India since the Asia Cup in 2018. Unable to make a comeback after Navdeep Saini was injured, Team India opted to hand over the call-up to Shardul.

Shardul recently shone with the bat for Mumbai, scoring 64 runs for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy Round 1 match. However, Pacer took only 1 wicket during the massive victory.