Spin all-rounder Washington Sundar is reportedly set to join India's ODI squad as injury cover to Axar Patel for the Asia Cup final, which will be held on Sunday. Axar suffered a blow to his hand and also complained of stiffness in his hamstring in the last match of Super Four in the Asian tournament. The Southpaw batted in the last period of the 266-run chase but failed to get India over the line.
According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, Sundar will travel to Colombo as a cover for Axar ahead of the final against Sri Lanka. It added that the all-rounder's forearm has a swelling but there is no fracture on his injured arm. Axar played a mature knock of 42 off 34 balls as he kept India in the hunt for a 266-run chase against Bangladesh at the R Premadasa Stadium. He also complained of stiffness in his hamstring and needed medical attention for his thigh during the India vs Bangladesh squad.
He suffered two blows to both of his hands while batting in the run-chase. The first of those two came when the 29-year-old tried surviving a close stumping attempt which hurt his right hand. The second one came when the batter completed a run and the ball from a Bangladesh fielder hit his left arm. The DC batter was caught out at 42 and India went down by six runs.
Sundar has been troubled with injury issues in his own cricket career. The Tamil Nadu-born star was recently ruled out in the middle of the IPL 2023 due to a hamstring injury. He played ODIs against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in 2023 and was also part of the squad that faced Australia in a three-match series. However, he could not make it to the Playing XI in that series. Before this, he missed the second leg of IPL 2021 with a finger injury and was forced to stay away from International cricket at the end due to a Covid-19 infection.
India will play the final of the Asia Cup 2023 against Sri Lanka on Sunday, September 17. The Men in Blue topped the Super Four stage with two wins in three games. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka finished second with as many wins and matches to that of India.
