In a sign of deepening crisis for the Indian team who are already struggling with so many injured players on the tour, pacer Japsit Bumrah is nursing an abdominal strain and the team management is fearing the injury could be more worrying, and hence considering not risking him for the Brisbane Test starting December 15, as per a PTI report.
If Bumrah misses out at the Gabba, the tourists will be without all of their first-choice pace attacks with Ishant Sharma not touring Australia altogether while the likes of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav getting ruled out at different times during the course of the series. Hence, Bumrah is invaluable to this Indian side in Australia and news agency ANI reports that the team management is contemplating paying Bumrah even if the pacer is at his 50 per cent.
The drawn Test at the SCG left the Indian team as a touring contingent of injured and bruised players as Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant suffered hand injuries. Jadeja has been ruled out of the series and he will consult a hand specialist in Sydney before heading to the National Cricket Academy to undergo rehabilitation.
Both Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin who unleashed a marathon display of resistance against the Australian bowlers to save the Test for India have suffered injuries. Vihari pulled up his hamstring on the fifth day and has been ruled out of the Brisbane Test, while Ashwin’s wife revealed on Twitter that the off-spinner was nursing a severe back injury before coming on to bat on the final day.
Apart from the injuries that occurred on the field of play, Mayank Agarwal, the first-choice opener, before the series started has been hit on the hand and the team management is waiting for the scan reports to come before deciding his fate going into the Test at the Gabba. Mayank was the first-choice opener for the series but later faced the axe due to lack of runs in the first two Tests as Rohit Sharma returned after injury to play the just-concluded Test at the SCG.
If Mayank Agarwal misses out, Prithvi Shaw will get back in the team in the most unlikely way but the success of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill at the top of the order in both the innings of the Sydney Test would mean he will have to bat in the middle order and replace Hanuma Vihari.
The Gabba in Brisbane will host an all-important series decider of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy which is level at 1-1 with the hosts winning the opening game in Adelaide and India bouncing back strongly in Melbourne to square off all the momentum the hosts had.
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