IND vs SA ODI series: Washington Sundar replaces Deepak Chahar after pacer suffers injury

Deepak Chahar's hopes of making it to the T20 World Cup squad suffered a major blow after he was ruled out of the ODI series against South Africa. The pacer was on the stand-by list for the marquee event down under and the latest injury comes as a major setback. Chahar played against Australia but did not feature in the opening match of the ODI series.

Washington Sundar called up for South Africa ODI series

The All-India Senior Selection Committee on Saturday, October 8 released a statement naming Washington Sundar as the replacement for Deepak Chahar for the remainder of the India vs South Africa ODI series. As per the statement, Chahar had suffered stiffness in his back following the third and final T20I against South Africa in Indore. The pacer will now head back to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and will be monitored by the medical team.

Sundar, on the other hand, last played for Team India in February and since then has been troubled by injuries. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder, who had a fruitful stint in county cricket with Lancashire, but was ruled out of India’s Zimbabwe tour with a shoulder injury. India will play the second ODI in Ranchi on Sunday and the final ODI of the series in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Recap of India vs South Africa 1st ODI match

The opening match of the ODI series in Lucknow was hit by rain but the game went ahead with both the team getting the chance to play 40 overs. Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and opted to bowl first. India had South Africa in trouble at 110 for 4 in 22.4 overs. However, a brilliant partnership from before David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen brought the innings back on track. Both batsmen added 139 runs for the fifth wicket. Miller remained unbeaten on 75 runs off 63 balls, while Klaasen played an unbeaten knock of 74 runs off 65 balls to guide South Africa to 249 for 4. Shardul Thakur was the pick of the bowlers for India with figures of 2/35 from eight overs.

India had a disastrous start to their run chase, losing both Shubman Gill (3) and skipper Shikhar Dhawan (4) early. Ishan Kishan and debutant Ruturaj Gaikwad put together a 48-run partnership for the third wicket before Gaikwad was stumped by Quinton de Kock off the bowling of Tabraiz Shamsi. Shreyas Iyer then smashed a 37-ball 50 and together with Sanju Samson shared 67 runs for the fifth wicket to keep India in the hunt. After Iyer's dismissal, Samson and Thakur kept India in the hunt with an attacking 93-run partnership of just 64 balls for the sixth wicket. However, Lungi Ngidi dismissed Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav in successive balls to hand South Africa the upper hand. Needing 30 off the last over, Samson tried his best, smashing one six and three fours but to no avail.