Axar Patel of India celebrates the wicket of Aiden Markram of South Africa during the 1st T20I match between India and South Africa, held at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, India, on December 9, 2025. (CREIMAS for BCCI)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday announced that allrounder Axar Patel was ruled out of the remaining two T20Is against South Africa due to illness. Shahbaz Ahmed was named as his replacement for the remaining matches scheduled for Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
“Team India allrounder, Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remaining two T20Is against South Africa due to illness. However, he is with the team in Lucknow where he will be further medically assessed. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Shahbaz Ahmed as his replacement for the T20Is in Lucknow and Ahmedabad,” the BCCI said in a statement.
On Sunday, skipper Suryakumar Yadav had said that Axar would sitting out the third T20I in Dharamsala due to illness. India also missed ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah in that match due to the pacer being unavailable because of personal reasons.
🚨 NEWS 🚨#TeamIndia allrounder, Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remaining two @IDFCFIRSTBank T20Is against South Africa due to illness.
🔽 Details | #INDvSA | @akshar2026 https://t.co/CZja7iaLNm
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 15, 2025
“We’ve made two forced changes. Axar Patel misses out as he’s unwell, and Jasprit Bumrah misses out due to personal reasons back home. Harshit Rana comes in, and Kuldeep Yadav comes in,” Suryakumar had said at the toss.
“Jasprit Bumrah has gone back home for personal reasons and will be unavailable for the game. An update on him joining the squad for the remaining matches will be provided in due course,” said the BCCI in a statement on Sunday.
Axar has scored 44 runs in the 2 matches he has played and has also bagged 3 wickets. Meanwhile, Bumrah picked two wickets in the first T20I, thus taking his career tally in the format to 101. India, meanwhile, leads the series 2-1.
India’s updated squad for last two T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), 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
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