Major Setback For Indian Team as Star Spinner Gets Ruled Out of Ind vs Aus 3rd ODI at Rajkot – REPORT

Rajkot: After Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur earn a rest for the final ODI versus Australia, there is a major setback for the Indian side. As per a report on Cricbuzz, star allrounder Axar Patel has been ruled out of the third and final ODI in Rajkot. As per the same report, Patel has not adequately recovered from his left quadriceps strain. This could also mean his ODI World Cup 2023 dreams may end. India could very well incorporate veteran Ravi Ashwin in the WC squad. The final date for submission of WC squads is September 28 and the final ODI will be played a day earlier.

Axar, who was likely to be part of the ODI squad versus Australia, is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill showed his insatiable hunger for runs in the second ODI at the Holkar stadium as he brought up his fifth hundred of the year while Shreyas Iyer hit a timely ton under pressure to set up a series sealing 99-run win for India in the second ODI.

Gill (104 off 97 balls) and Iyer (105 off 90 balls) shared a stroke-filled 200-run stand off 164 balls before Suryakumar Yadav (72 not out off 37 balls) unleashed carnage to fire India to 399 for five, the hosts’ highest total against Australia in ODIs.

Skipper K L Rahul chipped in with 52 off 38 balls.

Rain stopped play for the second time in the game when Australia were 56 for two in nine overs. With the revised target of 317 in 33 overs, they fell further behind in the game and ended with 217 all out in 28.2 overs.