Injured Chawla might miss all 7 one-dayers versus Australia

Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar confirmed Chawla’s injury and the fact that he is likely to miss out on the entire series against Australia. “Chawla is out because of his ankle injury. He has been advised rest for six weeks,” Vengsarkar said.

Chawla’s ouster will certainly be a big blow for Dhoni given the form the bowler has been in since the tour of Bangladesh. Even in the one-dayers against England, the 18-year-old came up with an impressive performance and variation in short spells.

For the selectors too, as much as Dhoni, Chawla’s absence will mean an option less in terms of variety in the bowling attack. The selectors had picked two off-spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar alongside Chawla in the one-day team, and Vengsarkar talked about “the option in the spin department that would allow the team to play two spinners in every match.”

When asked as to who would replace Chawla now, Vengsarkar said “We haven’t decided on it yet as the team already has 15 members. We will think about this later.”