BCCI confirms Axar Patel is ruled out of Asia Cup final

India have made a late change to their Asia Cup squad ahead of the final on Sunday, 17 September.

Washington Sundar has been named as a replacement for Axar Patel on the eve of the Asia Cup Final against Sri Lanka on Sunday. Sundar has already arrived in Colombo and has linked up with the squad.

Axar Patel sustained a left quadriceps strain during India’s last Super Four game against Bangladesh on 15 September and will miss the all-important final.

During the game against the Tigers, Axar scored 42 from 34 balls, which included three fours and two sixes. The southpaw copped multiple blows during the innings but kept the fight going to keep India in the hunt. 

In the end, Bangladesh bowlers pulled things back brilliantly and won by six runs to finish their Asia Cup campaign on a high.

Axar’s replacement Sundar has 16 wickets in as many ODIs at an average of 27.18 with an economy close to five. He has also proved to be handy with the bat, with 233 runs in nine innings which includes a fifty against New Zealand.

The off-spinner is a part of India’s Asian Games squad and is expected to join the Asian Games camp after the completion of the final. 

India’s squad for Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar.

The previous two winners of the Asia Cup, India and Sri Lanka, will clash in the final in Colombo. Both teams come into the game with contrasting forms – India suffered a loss in the final over against Bangladesh while Sri Lanka pulled off a heist with a thrilling last-over win against Pakistan in a virtual semi-final.