India vs England 2020-21, 1st Test: Axar Patel ruled out with knee injury

India is taking on England, as it defends the Anthony de Mello Trophy in a four-Test series. India has retained its core squad from the winning performance in Australia. Meanwhile, all-rounder, Axar Patel has sustained a knee injury, thus ruling him out of the opening Test.

Indian all-rounder, Axar Patel has been ruled out of the opening Test against England for the Anthony de Mello Trophy, at the MA Chidambaram (Chepauk) Stadium in Chennai, which got underway from Friday. He has injured his knee.

According to a statement by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Axar suffered the injury on Thursday, during India's optional training session. He felt some pain on his left knee. Although further details are awaited on his injury, he has effectively been ruled out of the opening game. Meanwhile, he is closely assessed by the BCCI medical team.

Axar was in line to make his Test debut in the series. The all-rounder has been impressive in First-Class cricket of late, claiming 134 wickets in 39 games, at an average of 27.38, including six four-fors and fifers. As for his batting, he has scored 1,665 in 39 matches at an average of 35.42, including 13 half-centuries and a ton.

As a result of Axar's injury, the BCCI has also added a couple of replacement players to the squad for the opening Test, in the form of Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar. Both the players were a part of the standby players for the series.

Nadeem has played a Test, as the spinner claimed four wickets against South Africa, at an average of 10.00. As for Chahar, the leg-breaker is yet to make his Test debut, while he has impressive FC stats, having claimed 64 wickets in 39 matches at an average of 28.62, including five four-fors and seven fifers.