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Axar Patel To Miss Rajkot ODI; Set To Join Team For World Cup Warm-Ups

image-lmyjw6quAxar Patel is still recovering for his injury (AP Photo)

In a significant development reported by Cricbuzz, India's star allrounder Axar Patel will be unavailable for selection for the third ODI against Australia at Rajkot on Wednesday. Patel, who is currently putting the hard yards in the National Cricket Academy, is expected to recover from his left quadriceps strain before the World Cup 2023 starts and will join the team directly in Guwahati for the first warm-up fixture.

For the dress rehearsal against the five-time champions, the team management decided to give rest to some of their core players, including Patel. Meanwhile, the spinning allrounder, who sustained an injury during the Asia Cup 2023, won't be regrouping with the squad at Rajkot, but the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya have already flown to the city of Gujarat.

Interestingly, after Patel sustained an injury earlier in the month, Washington Sundar was added to India's squad and played the Asia Cup Final against Sri Lanka. However, Ravichandran Ashwin has also entered the race after his sub-par performances against the Aussies in the first two ODIs. 

A few speculations are floating in the media that the selector panel could swap Ashwin or Sundar with Patel into the World Cup squad. Unfortunately, the left-arm spinning-allrounder has repeatedly shown the door out of the World Cup squads at the last minute.

Nevertheless, the Men in Blue already have a left-arm spinning allrounder in their ranks in the form of Ravindra Jadeja, and including either Ashwin or Sundar could bring a different variation to India's spin department.

After the Rajkot affair, the home team will fly to Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram for their warm-up matches before opening the campaign against Australia at Chennai on October 8.