Mumbai: New Zealand leg-spinner Todd Astle’s hopes of finally making his One Day International debut were dashed when he was ruled out of the side’s limited-overs tour of India with a groin strain on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Astle had been in India with New Zealand’s ‘A’ team and was elevated to the full squad earlier this week for a series that includes three ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals. He was replaced by Ish Sodhi.
“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,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said in a statement.
“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.” Astle was first named in the New Zealand side in 2012 and has played just two Tests, the second of which was last year, and two Twenty20s. He has yet to play a one-day international.
His performances in domestic cricket, where he is also a handy lower-middle order batsmen, however, have kept him on the selectors’ radar.
He had performed well on the ‘A’ tour to nudge Sodhi out of the one-day squad but managed to bowl just three deliveries before he was injured in New Zealand’s warm-up match against an Indian Board President’s XI in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The first ODI against India is on October 22.
Meanwhile, India lost their top ODI spot to South Africa in the latest team rankings released by International Cricket Council (ICC).
The Proteas returned to top spot with 6,244 points from 52 matches on Wednesday, following their 104-run victory over Bangladesh in the second ODI.
India has moved down to the second spot with 5,993 points from 50 matches. India had defeated Australia 4-1 to clinch the top spot in ODI rankings.
India will host New Zealand in a three-match ODI series scheduled to begin from October 22.
