India vs Zimbabwe: Washington Sundar ruled out with shoulder injury, Shahbaz Ahmed comes in as replacement

Off-spinner Washington Sundar's return to international cricket will be further delayed as a left shoulder injury sustained during a 50-over game for English county team Lancashire has now ruled him out of three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe starting 18 August. The All-India Senior Selection Committee named Shahbaz Ahmed as the replacement on Tuesday.

As per a BCCI source quoted by news agency PTI, he picked up the injury while fielding during Royal London Cup game between Lancashire and Worcestershire at Old Trafford. He will now undergo rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy.

It has been a rough last 12 months for the talented all rounder from Tamil Nadu, who has missed one series after another due to various types of injuries as well as Covid-19 related issue.

Sundar's saga of never-ending injuries started back in July 2021 when he had a fractured finger while batting for Combined Counties against Indian team in a warm-up game.

He played for the County team to allow India to test all their players before the start of the series.

That injury led to him missing the entire domestic season and then before white ball series in South Africa in January 2022, he was down with Covid19.

In February-March, he missed the twin white ball home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka because of a hamstring injury.

During IPL in April-May, he split his webbing and missed out on five games for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

After extensive rehabilitation, the BCCI played a role in getting him a county deal with Lancashire and he also had a five-wicket haul in a days' game for the 'Roses'.

India will play the first ODI against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on 18 August, 2022.

India's squad for 3 ODIs vs Zimbabwe: KL Rahul (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Shahbaz Ahmed.

(with inputs from PTI)

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