Mumbai, April 20 (IANS) A mysterious shoulder injury has ruled out Virender Sehwag from the Twenty20 World Cup and he will be replaced by Tamil Nadu batsman Murali Vijay in the 15-member Indian squad.
Indian cricket board secretary N. Srinivasan in a statement Tuesday said: "Sehwag has sustained a shoulder injury, and has been advised rest for three-four weeks. He has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20."
The statement, however, did not mention when Sehwag sustained the injury. Sehwag played all 14 IPL league matches for Delhi Daredevils, scoring 356 runs at an average of 25, and his last appearance was against Deccan Chargers in Delhi, Sunday.
Daredevils officials are also clueless about Sehwag's injury.
The Indian cricket board has announced Test opener Murali Vijay as his replacement and Gautam Gambhir will now be the vice-captain of the team.
In a similar incident, during last year's World Twenty20 in England, Sehwag carried a shoulder injury from the IPL. He travelled with the squad to England, but was not able to play a single game. India were eliminated in the second round. Sehwag later underwent an operation and was out of action for four months.
Sehwag's replacement, Vijay, has been in fine form playing for Chennai Super Kings, scoring 417 runs, including a century, at an average of 38.