New Delhi: Opener Shikhar Dhawan was on Wednesday ruled out of the T20 International (T20I) series against the West Indies due to a knee injury, making way for Sanju Samson, who was dropped without getting a chance in the recent series against Bangladesh.
Dhawan suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game against Maharashtra in Surat, the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) said in a statement.
"The BCCI medical team assessed him on Tuesday to review the healing of his wound. The medical team has suggested that Dhawan needs some more time for his stitches to come off and his wound to heal completely," the BCCI statement read.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Sanju Samson as Dhawan's replacement for the T20I series," it added.
The T20I series against the West Indies gets under way on December 6 in Hyderabad. The other two matches will be played in Thiruvananthpuram (December 8) and Mumbai (December 11).
Kerala player Sanju was dropped from the side without getting a single game in the home series against Bangladesh earlier this month.
The 25-year-old Sanju may get a chance to play in front of his home crowd with the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram slated to host the second match.
This will be the second T20I match to be held at Greenfield. India had beaten New Zealand by six runs in a rain-shortened series decider in 2017.
Saha undergoes surgery
Besides, the BCCI said Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha underwent a surgery on his right ring finger after sustaining a fracture during the recent day-night Test against Bangladesh, which India won by an innings and 46 runs.
"The BCCI medical team consulted a hand and wrist specialist and it was suggested that Saha undergoes a surgical fixation of the fracture," the Board stated.
"Subsequently, he underwent a successful surgery in Mumbai on Tuesday and will soon commence his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru," it added.
T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), K L Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sanju Samson.
