Shami was unable to continue batting after receiving the hit, finishing India’s innings 36/9 in Adelaide.
Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the rest of the Australian tour with a broken arm, sources have confirmed to Cricbuzz. One day after the debilitating loss at the Adelaide Oval comes a major loss for the Indians. It is not yet clear when exactly the fast pitcher will return home. But it’s most likely together with Captain Virat Kohli, who was spotted in Adelaide on Sunday (December 20) and should be on track to leave soon for the birth of his first child.
Shami was hit in the right arm, just below the elbow, by an upward pitch from Pat Cummins on Saturday night (December 19) in India’s chaotic second inning. He was immediately treated by Indian medical personnel. The fast pitcher tried to resume his innings, but didn’t even seem to be able to lift his arm while holding the bat. Medical personnel returned to the scene before pulling Shami off the field, ending the Indian entries with her lowest test score of 36.
Shami did not take the field during Australia’s second inning and was not seen when the two teams exchanged handshakes after the premature end of the first test. He was later seen leaving the Adelaide Oval with his arm in a sling.
Kohli had revealed in his post-match interview that Shami had gone for scans and had been in “a lot of pain” because he couldn’t “even lift his arm.” As feared, those scans revealed a fracture from which Shami will not be able to recover while in Australia.
The Bengal fast pitcher had run out of ground in Australia’s early innings, but had thrown with great pace and intensity, creating several chances and hitting the bat quite often. His unforeseen departure will leave a big hole in India’s fast bowling stocks, which have already been hit hard by the absence of Ishant Sharma. Shami has been India’s favorite in overseas testing for the past few years and that responsibility will now fall solely on the shoulders of Jasprit Bumrah, while Umesh Yadav continues to improve his consistency and control.
India is now left with two other options on the team in the form of Navdeep Saini and Mohammad Siraj, who have yet to make their testing debut. Siraj was impressive during his two outings in the warm-up games and might well be the favorite to replace Shami, even if Saini has been with the team since the New Zealand tour.
The visitors could also potentially catch one of their three reserve fast pitchers who have spent long hours on the net pitching to those on the team. Shardul Thakur has a test to his name, even if his debut lasted 10 balls before getting injured. T Natarajan, who made a name for himself during the white-ball leg of the tour, has meanwhile been making a huge mark on the Indian higher order on the nets for the past few weeks. He has managed to beat the bat or hit the pads of most hitters, including Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane at the nets. Bowling coach Bharat Arun, in particular, has also been seen to have taken Natarajan under his wings, constantly working his left arm in the nets.
20-year-old Kartik Tyagi took part in the warm-up game at the Drummoyne Oval and cast some quick spells. It was his goalie who unfortunately hit Will Pucovski in the helmet, a blow that has now ruled out the Victorian batter from the first two tryouts of the series. Tyagi has also released some eye-catching installments on the networks, including some sharp gorillas like Kohli and Pujara.
In some better injury news for India, Ravindra Jadeja has gone from sprinting to hitting nets and bowling in the middle, as seen ahead of Saturday’s day, for the past 4-5 days. Rohit Sharma is still in quarantine in Sydney and should be in the middle of the Boxing Day test. That should give you enough time, if deemed appropriate after your quarantine, to be ready for screening for the third test on January 7.
The Indian team will stay in Adelaide, even as multiple announcers and media staff crossed the South Australian border into Victoria on Sunday due to the latest Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney. In fact, they are also scheduled to have an optional training session at the Adelaide Oval on Monday (December 21).
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