We did not want to risk Ishant's finger injury: Dhoni

After Mohammed Shami's hamstring injury that ruled him out of the limited overs series, India's most experienced fast bowler Ishant Sharma got an injury scare having sustained a blow on his finger, which was the reason team management did not risk playing him in the first ODI.

Ahead of the first One-day International which India lost by five wickets to Australia at Perth, Ishant also did not take part in the two warm-up games.

"Ishant had a finger injury but he was available for selection. But had he played, there was a chance that he would got hit again in the same finger and miss the remaining four matches.

“Therefore, despite being available, we decided not to take extra risk of playing him," Dhoni said at the post-match press conference.

Ishant was replaced by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was called in after Shami had to return due to injury. 

Image: India pacer Ishant Sharma

Photograph: Getty Images