Jadeja ruled out of T20I series, Shardul Thakur named replacement
What's the story
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the remaining two T20Is against Australia after sustaining a concussion.
Jadeja, who was struck on the helmet while batting, is also battling a hamstring injury, which he picked up during the course of his innings.
Meanwhile, pacer Shardul Thakur has been added to the group as Jadeja's replacement.
Here is more.
Statement
A look at the official statement of BCCI
The BCCI, in an official statement, said that the Indian all-rounder will remain under observation.
"The diagnosis was confirmed based on a clinical assessment in the dressing room during the innings break by the BCCI Medical Team. Jadeja remains under observation and will be taken for further scans if required based on the assessment on Saturday morning," the statement read.
Substitute
First T20I: Yuzvendra Chahal replaced Jadeja as his concussion substitute
During the first innings of opening T20I, Jadeja top-edged a searing delivery from Mitchell Starc onto his helmet.
Although the blow was hard, he wasn't given a concussion test on the spot.
For the second innings, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was called in as a 'concussion substitute' for Jadeja.
Notably, Chahal was named the Player of the Match for his magnificent 3/25 (4).
Rescue
Jadeja paved the way for India in first innings
Despite the whole controversy, Jadeja emerged as Team India's rescuer in the first innings.
The visitors were tottering on 92/5 when he arrived in the middle.
He took his due time to settle down before bringing out the onslaught.
Jadeja's unbeaten 44* off 23 balls propelled India to 161/7 at the end of 20 overs. This has become his highest score in T20Is.
Options
What are the viable options?
Without Jadeja, Team India's middle-order appears to be frail.
His all-round attributes will be missed as he had been one of the top-performers, of late.
In his absence, Chahal and Washington Sundar are the only two front-line spinners.
Meanwhile, Thakur enters the fray on the back of his 3/51 in the third ODI.
He also scalped 10 wickets for CSK in the IPL 2020.
Information
Here is India's revised T20I squad
India's revised T20I squad: Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul (WK), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (WK), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan, Shardul Thakur