The seamer Shivam Mavi faces a lengthy absence from cricket after being replaced by Akash Deep on India's Asian Games squad. The 24-year-old bowler was hurt the day before he was to attend Team India's training camp in Alur to serve as a net bowler in preparation for the Asia Cup.

“Mavi is suffering from a back injury and is ruled out of the tournament. The men’s cricket competition will take place from 28th September to 8th October in a T20 format,” a BCCI release said.

It has been confirmed through reliable sources (News18) that Mavi suffered a stress fracture in his 12th rib while not even bowling at full speed in the nets. While bowling from a half run-up, the seamer sustained an injury.

“Shivam Mavi has a stress fracture in his 12th rib. It didn’t happen during a full blown training session but when he was bowling just from say half the run up. It is an unusual injury for a fast bowler and is likely to keep him out of action for a long time,” says the source.

“As things stand, he is more or less certain to miss the two white-ball tournaments – Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. There is still time for the Ranji Trophy and he could regain fitness till then but the longer format wouldn’t be ideal to stage a comeback after so much time away from cricket,” adds the source.