Navdeep Saini to miss New Zealand A series and Duleep Trophy with groin injury, replaced by Rishi Dhawan

09/18/2022

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Navdeep Saini's return to domestic cricket has suffered a halt after the pacer injured his groin while bowling in the Duleep Trophy, ruling him out of the remainder of the tournament. He will also sit out the one-days against New Zealand A, leading to Rishi Dhawan's call-up to India A squad.

Navdeep Saini lasted less than a day for the North Zone during their Duleep Trophy semi-final against South Zone in Salem, walking off the pitch on Thursday after hurting his groin while bowling. The 29-year-old had bowled just 11.2 overs on day one of four and had managed to get the scalp of centurion Rohan Kunnummal before the unfortunate incident brought his endeavors to a pre🔴mature end. The setback has ruled him out of the three one-days against New Zealand A as well scheduled to take place in Chennai from Septembe🃏r 22 with veteran pacer Rishi Dhawan set to replace him in the squad.

Saini has represented India in all three formats of the game, tallying 23 wicke♏ts in 21 matches at an average of 38.60. He last played for the Men in Blue in a T20I against Sri Lanka in July 2021 when the primary set of players were in England for a Test series.

The pacer has since plied his trade in the Indian Premier League and English domestic cricket where he had a suc𝄹cessful stint recently, returning with 11 wickets for Kent at a decent average of 23.81. He was also a part of their squad that emerged triumphant in the Royal London One-Day Cup, contributing five wickets in as many matches.

The right-arm fast from Haryana will now travel to Bangalore for rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy 💮hoping to return in time for the start of the domestic season in India.