According to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday, India’s all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to a right knee injury.
Following Jadeja's injury, the BCCI decided to replace him with Axar Patel.
“The All India Senior Selection Committee has selected Axar Patel in place of Ravindra Jadeja in the ongoing Asia Cup," the BCCI's press release reads. "Ravindra Jadeja has injured his right knee and has been ruled out of the tournament."
The BCCI further informed that Jadeja is now being monitored by the BCCI medical team and that Patel would be joining the team in Dubai soon.
“He is currently under the supervision of the BCCI medical team. Axar Patel was selected as one of the ‘standby’ players in the team, he will be joining the team in Dubai soon.”
The decision to introduce Patel is in line with Pakistan captain Wasim Akram's view on Friday that Patel is talented enough to replace Jadeja.
The decision to introduce Patel is in line with Pakistan captain Wasim Akram's view on Friday that Patel is competent to replace Jadeja.
"Jadeja, I think, is one of the best all-rounders going around," Akram asserted. "By all-rounder, I mean, batting, bowling and for me, most importantly, his fielding. His is the bubble of the team. Whether he is behind square, or at point, or at mid-on, he is a livewire."
"But Axar Patel is also a very useful cricketer, so, I would play him straightaway in place of Ravindra Jadeja," he added.
Concern over Jadeja's replacement
Nevertheless, the choice to select Patel has concerned former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan.
According to Pathan, while Patel is a solid alternative, he cannot match Jadeja's performance in the batting order.
"Axar Patel is the absolutely correct like-to-like replacement," he said.
"The only problem is that Jadeja had become such a fantastic batter that you could have batted him up the order, you might not be able to do that with Axar," Pathan replied to Star Sports.
Scott Styris, a former New Zealand all-rounder, commented on the news that with Jadeja's injury, India now needs more variation in the shape of a left-hander in the top six if India desires to play right-handers at the top.
He also asserted Rishabh Pant should be the one to take over Dinesh Karthik's position.
"I think you have to make a change now, I think Rishabh Pant has to come in for Dinesh Karthik," Styris said.
"Karthik has done nothing wrong, the form that he has displayed over the last 6-9 months has been outstanding but you can't go in with a top 6 with only right-handers, I don't think it works, opposition teams look to exploit that, especially with the ball turning away,” he added.
Styris went on to say that Pant is needed as a "forced change" due to his ability to take on left-arm and leg spinners.
“Rishabh Pant, just with his ability to take on left-arm spinners and leg-spinners, I think he now has to come into the side as a forced change, because Jadeja was so important to this Indian team," Styris concluded.
Jadeja is regarded as one of India's best players at the moment. In the match against Pakistan, he scored 35 runs to help India succeed.
Meanwhile, in the match against Hong Kong, he scored 15 runs in four overs. He was ranked seventh in most runs in an innings in a game between India and Sri Lanka in March of this year, with 175 runs.
