The Indian cricket team has suffered a big setback ahead of the upcoming Asian Games, slated to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.

According to The Indian Express report, pacer Shivam Mavi sustained an injury some days ago and is set to miss the continental games. However, there is no clarity on the nature of his injury yet.

The report further claims that Mavi’s replacement will soon be announced by the BCCI senior selection committee.

Apparently, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel wanted to pick Yash Thakur, who featured in the list of standby players, but the Vidarbha pacer also injured his back.

As a result, Jammu and Kashmir pacer Umran Malik is now the front-runner to replace Shivam Mavi in the squad.

India’s Asian Games-bound squad is supposed to assemble at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for a two-week training camp before boarding the flight to Hangzhou.

The players will train under the watchful eyes of NCA chief VVS Laxman who will also be the head coach of the side. The likes of Sairaj Bahutule and Munish Bali will perform the role of bowling and fielding coaches, respectively.

The Indian men’s team in the Asian Games will be captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad. The squad also includes young talents such as Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prabhsimran Singh and Tilak Varma among others.

(The Indian Express Inputs)