Mumbai:
Leggie Ish Sodhi today replaced
injured Todd Astle in the New Zealand squad for the three
match ODI series against India, commencing here on October 22.
Astle, who sustained a groin injury in the first warm-up
game against the Board President's XI on Tuesday, has been
ruled out of the entire ODI and T20 series. He could bowl just
three deliveries in that game.
"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," a release from New Zealand
Cricket said today.
Sodhi, who was originally only named in the Twenty20
squad, will replace Astle in the ODI side, it said.
Ludhiana-born Sodhi has so far played 18 ODIs and picked
19 wickets after making his debut versus Zimbabwe in 2015.
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said it was cruel timing
for Astle.
"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 Hesson.
"He deserved this opportunity and everyone in the team is
certainly feeling for Todd. He'll return to New Zealand and
get himself ready for a big summer," the coach added.
The three matches of the ODI series will be played in
Mumbai (October 22), Pune (October 25) and Kanpur (October
29).
