Team India have already announced the 13-man squad for the final Test of the four-match Test series at Sydney. A huge surprise awaited for the cricketing fraternity when they couldn’t find the name of Ishant Sharma on the list.
Another huge surprise was the inclusion of veteran spinner Ravi Ashwin. The media-manager had previously ruled out Ashwin’s availability for the final Test. However within couple of hours of that announcement, Ashwin was included to the squad.
However it was the absence of the veteran pacer which left many people perplexed. This is because there were no concerns regarding his previous performances nor there were any sight of injuries.
However the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has released a statement that Ishant is struggling with rib-cage injury. They have also mentioned that the team physio is currently monitoring the pacer. As a result they haven’t taken any risk with Ishant.
“He is experiencing some left rib cage discomfort and the team management did not want to risk him during this Test match. He is currently being assessed,” the statement read.
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Definite change in team combination
Injury to Ishant has left the management in a state of flux. They will now have to decide if they will risk playing Kuldeep Yadav or not. Along with Kuldeep, the other spinners in the squad are Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Ishant has been one of India’s main weapon in the whites in the past year. He has been brilliant over the last 12 months. Very few would argue that 2018 was Ishant’s best year in his career.
There will be toss-up between Kuldeep and Umesh Yadav, who is included in place of Ishant. KL Rahul has also been included in place of Rohit Sharma for the final Test.
Rohit has flown back to India to attend the birth of his new-born baby girl with his wife Ritika Sajdeh. This has left Rahul with another opportunity to seal his spot in red-ball cricket.
However India will definitely miss the tall lanky pacer. Only time will tell if Ishant’s absence proves costly or Virat Kohli and Co. manages to hold Australia even for a draw to win the overall contest. If they manages to do the latter, it would the first time they will win a Test series in Australia.