Injured Shikar Dhawan out, Sanju Samson comes in for T20 series against West Indies
New Delhi, Nov 27: Opener Shikhar Dhawan was on Wednesday ruled out of the T20 International series against the West Indies due to a knee injury, making way for Sanju Samson, who was dropped without getting a chance in the recent series against Bangladesh.
Dhawan suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game against Maharashtra in Surat, the BCCI said in a statement.
"The BCCI Medical Team assessed him on Tuesday to review the healing of his wound. The BCCI Medical Team has suggested that Dhawan needs some more time for his stitches to come off and his wound to heal completely," the BCCI revealed.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Sanju Samson as Dhawan's replacement for the T20I series," it added.
The T20 series against the West Indies gets underway on December 6 in Hyderabad. The other two matches will be played in Thiruvananthapuram (December 8) and Mumbai (December 11).
Kerala player Samson was dropped from the side without getting a single game in the home series against Bangladesh earlier this month. The dropping drew criticism with several former players questioning the logic of not playing him at all against Bangladesh.
The 33-year-old Dhawan is expected to be fit for the one-dayers against the Caribbean team but is under tremendous pressure due to his patchy recent form. The three-match ODI series against the West Indies starts on December 15 in Chennai.
Dhawan was off-colour in the recent series against Bangladesh accounting for 91 runs in three appearances. His form hasn't exactly been the best even in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Besides, the BCCI said Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha underwent a surgery on his right ring finger after sustaining a fracture during the recent Day/Night Test against Bangladesh, which India won by an innings and 46 runs.
"The BCCI Medical Team consulted a hand and wrist specialist and it was suggested that Saha undergoes a surgical fixation of the fracture," the Board stated.
"Subsequently, he underwent a successful surgery in Mumbai on Tuesday and will soon commence his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru," it added.
India's squad for three T20Is:
Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sanju Samson.
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J-K: FIR against missing soldier for claiming Pahalgam attack was 'inside job'
Srinagar, May 14 (PTI): An FIR was registered on Wednesday against a missing soldier after a video appeared on social media in which he had claimed that the Pahalgam terror attack was an "inside job".
The soldier, Dlhair Mushtaq Sofi, is a sepoy of 29 Rashtriya Rifles and a resident of the Tral area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, according to police.
"The missing report... was lodged on 11.03. 2025. (It) has been converted into an FIR after a video showing him surfaced on social media," a police official said.
In the video, Sofi claims that he is aware of "each and everything and how fake encounters are being done."
"Indian government, RAW, IB and Army were involved in the Pahalgam attack. I wanted to stay silent, but my conscience does not allow me to remain silent anymore," says the soldier in the video.
The soldier also mentions that his parents had committed a mistake by making him join the armed forces.
The police official said the video, verified by Sofi's father and uncle, prompted the registration of FIR No. 75/2025 under Sections 197(d), 152 BNS at Police Station Ganderbal.
Section 197 of the BNS deals with offences related to imputations, assertions or communications prejudicial to national integration. The section covers making false or misleading statements that could endanger India's sovereignty, unity, or integrity.
Section 152 deals with the acts endangering India's sovereignty, unity and integrity.
The police official said preliminary enquiry has revealed the soldier was involved in online gambling and had debts exceeding Rs 10 lakh.
An investigation has been initiated, the official added.
