Due to illness Axar set to miss final two T20Is

Allrounder Axar Patel will miss the last two T20Is against South Africa due to illness during the ongoing series. He did not play the third T20I in Dharamsala. Shahbaz Ahmed has been named his replacement.

In the first game of the series played in Cuttack, Axar scored 23 off 21 and took 2 for 7. In the second game at New Chandigarh, he picked 1 for 27 from 3 overs and scored 21 off 21.

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“He[Axar] is with the team in Lucknow where he will be further medically assessed,” BCCI said.

Shahbaz Ahmed, on the other hand, has played three ODIs and two T20Is for India so far. He has taken 3 ODI wickets and two T20I wickets in his International career. He last played for India in 2023 Asian fames final against Afghanistan in Hangzhou, where India won gold.

Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the third T20I for personal reasons, remains uncertain for selection in the fourth T20I.

India currently leads the five match series 2-1, with the fourth T20I scheduled in Lucknow on December 17.

India squad for 4th and 5th T20I

Suryakumar Yadhav (c) , Shubman Gill (vc) , Abhishek Sharma , Tilak Varma , Hardik Pandya , Shivam Dube , Washington Sundar , Jithesh Sharma (wk) , Sanju Samson (wk) , Jasprit Bumrah , Harshit Rana , Arshdeep Singh , Varun Chakravarthy , Kuldeep Yadhav , Shahbaz Ahmed.