Dhoni suffers back spasm, Parthiv comes in as back-up

Dhaka, February 23
The selectors have called up left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel as a back-up for Mahendra Singh Dhoni after India’s limited-overs skipper suffered a muscle spasm while training here on Monday.
The Indian team is currently in Bangladesh to participate in the Asia Cup, to be held for the first time in the T20 format, from February 24 to March 6 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
“MS Dhoni has suffered a muscle spasm in the back during a training session today in Dhaka,” BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement. “The selection committee has named Parthiv Patel as the back-up wicketkeeper for the upcoming Asia Cup. He will join the team in Dhaka at the earliest.”
The 34-year-old Dhoni suffered the spasm while training in Fatullah, which is on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital.
Patel has played 20 Tests, 38 One-day Internationals (ODI) and just two T20 Internationals. He last represented India in an ODI against Sri Lanka four years ago at Brisbane.
Dhoni’s fitness is crucial for the team as the Asia Cup will be followed by the World T20; it will be played across seven Indian cities from March 15 to April 3.
Medium-pacer Jasprit Bumrah also didn’t turn up for practice on Monday. According to the team management, the bowler is slightly under the weather and should be fine for India’s opener against Bangladesh on February 24.
India, however, would be worried over Dhoni’s fitness. If the skipper doesn’t recover in time for the opener, or remains unavailable for the rest of the matches too, India would need to rework their entire strategy and the line-up. Ahead of the team’s departure, the Indian skipper had said that the side now had a replacement for every spot.
The Indian skipper wouldn’t have imagined that the time to test his claim would come so soon.