Published: Sep 20, 2016, 04:09 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 20, 2016, 04:36 PM (IST)
Amidst all the hype of the much anticipated India vs New Zealand Tests series, Team India has been struck with a huge blow as fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been diagnosed with chikungunya and will be missing out on the first Test starting from 22nd of September at Kanpur. It was already a matter of concern as there were reports of the epidemic of Dengue and chikungunya tormenting the city of Kanpur a few days back. It was also speculated that the first Test might be played in front of empty stands as majority of people were diagnosed with both these diseases and almost majority of them were treated in hospitals.
Ishant Sharma who is the leader of the pace attack for India since a long time has been in good form as he had troubled the opposition batsman in recent times. It was also a no-brainer that he would be leading the pace attack for India yet once again against New Zealand in the forthcoming series.But with this news coming in it is still not clear as to who will be replacing Sharma in the first Test which is starting from tomorrow as no official announcement has been made so far.
Indian squad has Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav who have been included for the series against New Zealand. India will be playing the first Test at Kanpur, the second is been played in Eden Gardens and the last Test is scheduled to be played at Indore.
Moreover, new Zealand camp has also been hit with injury concerns as their Tim Southee who heads the pace bowling attack for the visitors has been ruled out of the whole series due to injury due to ankle injury and all-rounder Jimmy Neesham has been ruled out of the first Test at Kanpur due to rib injury. READ: India Vs New Zealand 2016 Schedule: Dates, Fixture, Time, TV Coverage & Venues of Ind Vs NZ Test Series
New Zealand has announced the replacement of Southee as they have called in fast bowler Matt Henry while they have not made any announcement as to who will be replacing Neesham.
