Kamal Ghorui
TimesofIndia.com in Mumbai: In a positive development, Washington Sundar is all set to join India’s T20I squad in Delhi ahead of the World Cup fixture vs Namibia on February 12. India captain Suryakumar Yadav revealed this after the win over USA in Mumbai, informing that the all-rounder is “good.““Washi (Washington Sundar) is joining us in Delhi. He’s good. Everything is fine,” said Surya at the post-match presentation.
Sundar last played a competitive fixture nearly a month ago during the ODI series vs New Zealand. The all-rounder injured himself while bowling in the 1st ODI in Vadodara and went on to miss the remainder of the series, and the five T20Is which followed. As TimesofIndia.com had reported on January 28, the left-hander resumed batting at the BCCI Centre of Excellence and got his workload gradually increased in the coming days.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The BCCI didn’t mention the exact nature of his injury but TimesofIndia.com has learnt that it was a mild fracture in addition to the side strain which delayed the return to match fitness. He even consulted Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala before checking into the Bengaluru facility and the initial few days were more about pain management and allowing the injured area to heal. Even the first batting session, which lasted around 30 minutes, was done with some tenderness around the injured rib region.“Washington Sundar underwent scans after reporting an acute onset discomfort in his lower rib area while bowling during the first ODI against New Zealand at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara, on 11 January. This was followed by an in-person consultation with an expert. He has been diagnosed with a side strain and has been advised rest for a few days, following which he will report to the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) for further management of his injury,” read a BCCI statement on January 16.On the reported lines, the Indian management played the waiting game and was in no rush to replace the all-rounder from the World Cup squad. His addition is unlikely to affect the Playing XI dynamics but gives the management an interesting match-up card up their sleeve.
Jasprit Bumrah , Abhishek Sharma under the weather
Bumrah missed the tournament opener due to illness and even opener Abhishek didn’t take the field during the second innings of the fixture vs USA. The left-hander wasn’t spotted in the dugout, forcing the Indian management to assign fielding coach T Dilip to drinks duties.Abhishek was nowhere to be seen even during the post-match handshakes, and Surya later confirmed that both are still under the weather.
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“Bumrah, he was having high fever due to because of weather, like how Abhishek was under the weather,” said Surya.Mohammed Siraj, however, revealed the Abhishek has an upset stomach but assured his return in the next game vs Namibia.“Everything is fine. His stomach was a little upset, so he didn’t come out to field. He’ll be back in the next match and show his magic with the bat,” said Siraj.
