CHENNAI: On a day India reached Auckland for a 43-day tour of New Zealand that includes five T20Is, three ODIs and two World Test Championship matches, they received two updates which wouldn’t please them.
Although the news of Shikhar Dhawan missing the T20I and ODI series wouldn’t have come as a surprise, the ankle injury suffered by Ishant Sharma which needs a few weeks of rest puts him in serious doubt for the Test series.
On Monday, before they departed from Bengaluru, Team India were sweating over Ishant’s injury, which he suffered during Day 2 of Delhi’s Ranji fixture against Vidarbha. On Tuesday, Delhi and Districts Cricket Association secretary Vinod Tihara gave an update.
“Ishant Sharma’s MRI report shows a Grade 3 ankle tear and it is serious. He has been advised six weeks of rest and rehabilitation. Six weeks is the maximum but a minimum of three weeks is a must,” he said.
While the pacer is likely to head for the National Cricket Academy for rehabilitation, he is racing against time to be fit for the Test series starting on February 21.
Although India have Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav for the Tests, Ishant’s absence would be a big blow as he has evolved into one of the most reliable bowlers, capable of getting breakthroughs with the new ball and the old. If he doesn’t recover, Umesh will be the third seamer, but it might increase the workload on Bumrah and Shami.
The two were on Tuesday included in the squads for ODIs and there is a possibility that India will be forced to rotate them in the limited overs so that they remain fresh for the Tests. In the last month, the team has lost Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya to injuries and the addition of Dhawan and Ishant only adds to their owes.
There were indications from the Indian camp before departing that Bumrah has to be managed carefully and if need be, they are willing to rest him for one of the Tests. But it remains to be seen how they go about it.
There are injury concerns over Wriddhiman Saha too. The wicketkeeper, since fracturing his finger during the day-night Test against Bangladesh, hasn’t featured in any match in the last two months. Although he was supposed to play the ongoing round of Ranji fixtures, it is understood that he hasn’t recovered fully and hasn’t been cleared to play by the NCA. Instead, he will join the India A team in New Zealand for the second four-day match starting on February 7.
Samson, Shaw in squad
In place of Dhawan, India have named Sanju Samson as his replacement in T20Is and Prithvi Shaw has been called up to the ODI team for the first time, his first recall to the national set-up since he was suspended.