Opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the upcoming three-match T20I series against West Indies with an injury and was replaced by Kerala's wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson.
Playing for Delhi, Dhawan injured his left knee during the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament when he dived to make his crease as a piece of wood also pierced his knee.
"Dhawan suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game against Maharashtra in Surat. 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," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media release on Wednesday.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Sanju Samson as Dhawan’s replacement for the T20I series," it added.
Samson was left out of the original squad for the three-match T20I series against West Indies as he had to make way for captain Virat Kohli, without getting a single game against Bangladesh recently.
Samson's exclusion from the squad did not go down well with many supporters as they criticised the selectors for dropping him without giving him a chance.
Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who represents Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, slammed the selectors.
"I guess they r testing his heart #selectionpanelneedtobechanged need strong people there.. hope dada @SGanguly99 will do the needful," Harbhajan tweeted.
"Very disappointed to see @IamSanjuSamson dropped without a chance. He carried the drinks for three T20Is & has been promptly discarded. Are they testing his batting or his heart?" Tharoor had said on Twitter.
The 33-year-old Dhawan is likely to be fit for the three-match ODI series against West Indies, starting on December 15, but will be under tremendous pressure due to his recent patchy form.
The left-hander struggled with the bat in the recent ODI series against Bangladesh, managing just 91 runs in three games, and he also failed to get back among the runs in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, scoring 87 runs in five matches at an average of 17.
Samson, 25, was also a part of the T20I squad for three-match series against Bangladesh, but failed to get a single as Rishabh Pant was preferred over him.
The BCCI also stated that Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha underwent a surgery on his right ring finger after sustaining a fracture during the recent Day-Night Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata, 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 said.
"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 the T20I series against West Indies: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.
Schedule: West Indies tour of India
| Date | Match | Venue | Time |
| Dec 6 | First T20I | Hyderabad | 1900 IST |
| Dec 8 | Second T20I | Thiruvananthapuram | 1900 IST |
| Dec 11 | Third T20I | Mumbai | 1900 IST |
| Dec 15 | First ODI | Chennai | 1400 IST |
| Dec 18 | Second ODI | Visakhapatnam | 1400 IST |
| Dec 22 | Third ODI | Cuttack | 1400 IST |
