Varun Chakravarthy out of Afghanistan tie due to calf injury

A left calf issue saw India spinner Varun Chakravarthy left out of the must-win T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan on Wednesday.

"Varun Chakravarthy has a left calf issue. He was not available for selection for this game," a BCCI media statement said.

Chakravarthy, who was suffering with knee issues before the tournament, went wicketless against Pakistan and New Zealand in the opening two fixtures which India lost. Chakravarthy's absence cleared the spot for experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who last played white-ball cricket in 2017 against West Indies.

Top-order batter Suryakumar Yadav also returned to the side in place of keeper-batter Ishan Kishan for the match.

Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bowl first at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.