Wellington, Oct 19 (IANS) Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi will replace injured Todd Astle for the upcoming One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) series against India, the New Zealand Cricket announced on Thursday.
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\r\n"Astle suffered injury in a warm-up game between the Blackcaps and a President Board's XI in Mumbai on Tuesday. 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," New Zealand Cricket said in a statement.
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\r\nThe 31-year-old was on top of his game in the recently concluded one-day series between India A and New Zealand A, picking up six scalps at an average of 27.83.
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\r\nThe Blackcaps coach Mike Hesson said it was cruel timing for Astle.
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\r\n"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.
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\r\n"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," he added.
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\r\nNew Zealand will play India in three ODI and similar number of T20Is in the series scheduled to begin from October 22. <\/p>\r\n\r\n