Shahbaz Ahmed Replaces Ill Axar Patel for Final Two T20Is Against South Africa

India all-rounder Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remaining two T20Is against South Africa due to illness, with Shahbaz Ahmed named as his replacement in the squad. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the development on Tuesday.

“Axar is with the team in Lucknow, where he will be further medically assessed,” the BCCI said in an official statement. Axar had earlier missed the third T20I in Dharamsala, where Jasprit Bumrah was also unavailable due to personal reasons. India brought in Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana as replacements for that match and went on to register a comfortable seven-wicket victory.

Axar had mixed outings in the first two matches of the five-game series. In the opening T20I at Cuttack, he contributed 23 off 21 balls and returned impressive bowling figures of 2 for 7 in India’s win. However, in the second match at New Chandigarh, he picked up 1 for 27 from three overs and struggled with the bat after being promoted to No. 3, scoring 21 off 21 balls while chasing a steep target of 214.

Shahbaz Ahmed, who last represented India in the 2023 Asian Games final against Afghanistan in Hangzhou, returns to the national setup after more than a year. The Bengal all-rounder has featured in three ODIs and two T20Is for India so far. His recent form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy has been modest, with 60 runs from five matches at a strike rate of 133.33, along with four wickets at an economy rate of 8.25.

Following the fourth T20I in Lucknow, both teams will travel to Ahmedabad for the series finale. India currently lead the five-match series 2–1.

India’s updated squad for the last two T20Is:

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed.