Published: Dec 31, 2020, 12:38 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 31, 2020, 12:38 PM (IST)
Team India is going through a major injury crisis in the fast bowling department with Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma injuries, which ruled them out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The new addition in the injured bowler list is senior pacer Umesh Yadav, who sustained a calf muscle tear in Boxing Day Test and is now ruled out of the last two Tests.
In Umesh’s absence, Team India now has to take a tough call to replace him in the Sydney Test with one of the three young pacers Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and T Natarajan.
Saini, who had a tough time during the ODI series against Australia last month, is expected to wait for the call-up. While T Natarajan has not been officially included in India’s Test squad, he is currently with the team as a net bowler.
According to a BCCI source, Shardul might get picked over Natarajan in the third Test at Sydney Cricket Ground, on the basis of his vast experience with red-ball in domestic cricket.
“While people are excited about the brilliant progress shown by T Natarajan, we mustn’t forget he has played only one first-class match for Tamil Nadu. And Shardul has been a seasoned domestic red ball pacer for Mumbai,” a BCCI source privy to developments in Australia told PTI on Thursday.
Earlier, Shardul Test debut against West Indies didn’t go as planned as an unfortunate injury forced him out of the match without bowling an over.
“Shardul was really unfortunate that his Test debut against West Indies ended abruptly due to injury even before he could bowl an over. He has been shaping up well and might replace Umesh in the playing XI,” the source added.
The final call will be taken by the head coach Ravi Shastri, stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane and bowling coach Bharath Arun after reaching Sydney.
Shardul, who played for Mumbai in domestic cricket, has played 62 first-class games in which he has picked 206 wickets. The 26-year-old pacer has been part of India’s limited-overs set-up from the past couple of years where he has faired well for the team on several occasions.
With Shardul’s inclusion, there will be more depth in India’s batting tail, which has failed to put up a fight in overseas conditions.
Shardul has six first-class half-centuries and during his stint with the national team in white-ball games, he has proved to be a decent batsman.
“Obviously the next few training sessions will be important and that’s why the final call is likely to be taken in Sydney,” the source said.
The third match of the series will be played on January 7.
