New Zealand suffered a blow early on Thursday when their uncapped leg-spinner Todd Astle was ruled out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against India. The first match will be played on Sunday, October 22 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Ish Sodhi was named replacement for the injured leg-spinner. Sodhi was not a part of the New Zealand side for the ODIs, but he had taken a part in the first tour match on Tuesday, dismissing Indian opener KL Rahul for 68.
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The New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said in a release, “Astle suffered the injury in a warm-up game between the BlackCaps and a President Board’s XI in Mumbai on Tuesday. Further assessment and a scan confirmed Astle to have suffered a tear on his right side, which will see him ruled out for around three weeks. Ish Sodhi, who was originally only named in the Twenty20 squad, will replace Astle in the ODI side.”
“Todd was really impressive in the recent New Zealand A tour over here and had done everything he possibly could to get himself ready for this series,” said New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson.
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Astle had bowled only three balls in his first spell when he suffered a groin strain on Tuesday during the first warm-up match against the Indian Board President’s XI. He left the field immediately and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson went on to complete the over.
It was declared that Aslte would be observed over the next 24 hours at least before any decision is taken on the leg-spinner, and ahead of the second match on Thursday, he was announced ruled out from the upcoming series against India.
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New Zealand ODI squad for India tour 2017: Kane Williamson (c), Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Ross Taylor, George Worker, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips (wk), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee.
Source: HindustanTimes