Asia Cup | Deepak Chahar to replace injured Hardik Pandya in Asia Cup

It was a moment of fear and distraught, when Indian all-rounder - Hardik Pandya collapsed to the ground after bowling the fifth delivery of the 18th over during yesterday’s Asia Cup match against Pakistan. He appeared to hold his lower back as he hit the ground after which he laid there motionless until the medical help arrived.

The injury was so severe that the youngster had to be stretchered off the field as Manish Pandey stepped in to fill in the void. As per BCCI reports, it was later revealed that the Baroda-born player suffered from an acute lower back injury which also ruled him out of the remainder of the ongoing tournament in Dubai.

According to reports in HT, BCCI has called up Chennai Super Kings’ pacer Deepak Chahar as a replacement for Pandya for the rest of the competition. Chahar is known to be a clinical bowler and has come in handy with the bat in the lower order as well.

Pandya ended with figures of 4.5-0-24-0 after Babar Azam’s catch was dropped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni when the batsman was on 32. The Mumbai Indians’ player will return home and undergo rehab for the back injury. Time will tell if he is called up for the series against Australia later this year.