Asia Cup 2018: After Hardik Pandya, India lose two more players to injuries; replacements named

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced that along with Hardik Pandya, the likes of Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel have also been ruled out due to their respective injuries.

While all-rounder Hardik suffered an acute lower back spasm during the game against Pakistan, Axar injured his left index finger while fielding in the game against Pakistan. Meanwhile, right-arm pacer Shardul experienced right hip and groin soreness after the game against Hong Kong.

Hardik is undergoing treatment and assessment by the BCCI medical team. He will be unavailable for the remainder of the series and Deepak Chahar has been called in as his replacement.

On the other hand, Axar, who was yet to play a game in the Asia Cup, was sent for scans and the results showed that he had a tendon tear. He will be unavailable for the remainder of the series and Ravindra Jadeja was named his replacement.

Thakur, who proved to be the most expensive bowler in India’s opener against Hong Kong leaking 41 runs in four overs, will be replaced by Siddharth Kaul.