Washington ruled out of WI T20Is, Kuldeep named as replacement

Spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar was on Monday ruled out of the three-match T20 International series against the West Indies owing to a hamstring strain, adding to his never-ending woes.

The All-India senior selection committee has named Kuldeep Yadav as Washington's replacement, the BCCI said in a statement.

"All-rounder Washington Sundar suffered a left hamstring muscle strain during fielding in the third ODI against the West Indies played at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. He is ruled out of the upcoming three-match Paytm T20I Series to be played in Kolkata from 16th February," the BCCI said.

Washington recently made an impressive comeback in the preceding three-match ODI series against the West Indies, and he was looking to build on his steady all-round show in the one-dayers, starting here on Wednesday.

The Chennai-based Washington came back to competitive cricket in the Vijay Hazare Trophy after a long layoff due to a hand injury sustained during the England tour.

He was selected for the South Africa one-dayers but then tested COVID positive and couldn't play in the series.

Jayant Yadav was then added to the squad.

With Axar Patel already out of the squad due to an injury and Washington also ruled out, the Indian team was left with only Yuzvendra Chahal as its frontline spinner before the selectors added Kuldeep to the squad.

"Washington has suffered a hamstring strain and hence didn't practice on the day. It seems there is a possibility that he would miss the entire series with three T20 matches in just five days," a veteran BCCI official had earlier said on the condition of anonymity.

Washington will join Axar and KL Rahul at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for rehabilitation.

The 22-year-old Washington was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 8.75 crore in the two-day IPL mega auction.

India's T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain) (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav.