CUTTACK, (Reuters) – India paceman Praveen Kumar has been ruled out of the first three one-day internationals (ODIs) against West Indies because of a chest injury.
Abhimanyu Mithun, 22, will replace him in the squad for the opening three games, India’s cricket board said in a statement yesterday.
Cuttack hosts the first match today followed by games in Visakhapatnam (Dec. 2), Ahmedabad (Dec. 5), Indore (Dec. 8) and Chennai (Dec. 11).
Kumar, 25, has also been battling against a recurring elbow problem which kept him out of his team’s successful 50-over World Cup campaign at home earlier this year.
R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron are the other fast bowlers in the ODI squad.
The hosts, who won the three-match test series 2-0 against West Indies, have also rested Sachin Tendulkar and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the one-dayers and will be led by dashing opening batsman Virender Sehwag.
Hard-hitting batsman Yuvraj Singh will miss the ODIs after being told he has a non-malignant lung tumour.
“Overwhelmed with your love and support. I am absolutely fine, just need to get match fitness and training, will be back soon,” Yuvraj, 29, said on his Twitter account.
“Need some more time to regain 100p (percent) fitness. Nothing serious, need to build up the lost stamina.”