London: All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has not played a one-dayer for more than six months, on Wednesday replaced opener Gautam Gambhir in India’s injury-ravaged cricket squad for the upcoming ODI series against England starting September 2.
Gambhir, who is nursing a mild concussion which has left his vision blurred, was ruled out of the five-match series on Tuesday.
Gambhir hurt himself when he fell backwards and banged his head against the ground while fielding in the final Test against England at the Oval.
“He was diagnosed of mild concussion by the attending sports physician and neurologist. He was sent for a precautionary CT and MRI scan of his head and neck which was reported as normal. He has been resting since and his symptoms have improved.
“However, he still complains of some visual disturbance and inability to focus on an object for long. The ophthalmologist (eye specialist) has reported Gautam’s eyes as perfectly normal and the symptoms have been put down to the mild concussion,” BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.
“Gautam has been advised to take rest and is expected to recover spontaneously without any further medical intervention. He will be returning to India shortly. Ravindra Jadeja has been chosen as his replacement,” he added.
Gambhir has been replaced as the vice-captain of the side by Suresh Raina.
“Suresh Raina has been nominated as Vice-Captain for the ODI series,” the release said.
In what is turning out to be a mightmare of a tour, Jadeja goes into the ODI series more than six months after his last ODI appearance for India (against New Zealand at Vadodara).
India were whitewashed 0-4 in the Test series after a string of injuries ruled out key players such as pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and opener Virender Sehwag.
The 22-year-old all-rounder has played 35 ODIs in all, making 535 runs at an average of 31.47. He has 29 wickets under his belt.
‘India will miss Gambhir’: Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels that India will miss the experience of Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order ahead of their five-match ODI series here.
“India are certainly going to miss Gambhir in the ODIs. He has performed really well in the last two years. His injury makes matters worse for India who are already playing without Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer ,” Akram told MobileESPN. (PTI)