Unheralded Vidarbha pacer Umesh Yadav will fly to the West Indies on Friday to replace Praveen Kumar, who was ruled out of the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup due to a side strain.
"Praveen Kumar has sustained a side strain and has been ruled out of the ICC World T20 2010, as a result. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has picked Umesh Yadav as his replacement," Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.
Praveen, who had played both the group matches against Afghanistan and South Africa, sustained the injury during a practice session at the 3Ws Oval on Thursday and the Indian team management sent him for an MRI, which revealed a a tear in abdomen muscle.
Interestingly, Yadav was not part of the pool of 30 probables. He now needs a nod from the tournament's technical committee, which is expected to be a formality.