London: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that the event technical committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 has approved Sunil Ambris as a replacement player for Andre Russell in the West Indies squad for the remainder of the tournament.

All-rounder Russell has been ruled out of further participation in the event due to an injury to his left knee. Twenty six-year-old Ambris, a top-order batsman, has played six Tests and six ODIs for the West Indies. Last month, the right-hander hit his career-best 148 in an ODI against Ireland.

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The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.

The 31-year-old Russell has played one Test, 56 ODIs and 47 T20Is for the West Indies.

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Russell, who had roaring success with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) before the World Cup, missed the thriller on Saturday (June 22) against New Zealand where the Windies lost by five runs despite Carlos Brathwaite's heroic hundred. Russell was expected to play against India on Thursday (June 27) but now he is set to fly home.

India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, expecting Russell to play against them, had said they have a plan to keep the big all-rounder quiet. "We would obviously have a plan. He (Russell) is a hard-hitter but we have bowled to him enough," Chahal said on Monday (June 24). Now, the Indians can relax.

Already, some of the teams have been hit by injuries to key players. India are without their opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who was ruled out of the entire tournament due to a fractured thumb. He was replaced by Rishabh Pant. Also, South Africa don't have Dale Steyn and are now out of the race for a semi-final spot.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 consists of Geoff Allardice (ICC, ETC chairman), Campbell Jamieson (ICC representative), Steve Elworthy (CWC representative), Alan Fordham (host representative), Harsha Bhogle and Kumar Sangakkara (both independent representatives).