England’s hopes of a rare series win in India have taken a blow with Jack Leach, their senior spinner, ruled out of the tour with a knee injury.
Leach picked up the injury on the opening day of the series in Hyderabad, when he innocuously jarred his left knee fielding the second ball of India’s first innings. The 32-year-old was troubled by the injury throughout that game, picking up two wickets in 36 uncomfortable overs, only to be ruled out of the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
The injury was diagnosed as a haematoma, and was still significantly bruised and swollen when the team left India for a short break in Abu Dhabi this week. By then, he had not undertaken any sort of return to training, a situation exacerbated by Leach being one of the members of the group laid low by a sickness bug in Vizag.
Leach was due to receive treatment every day in Abu Dhabi. It appeared increasingly unlikely that he would play the third Test in Rajkot, which starts on Thursday, but the fourth in Ranchi and fifth in Dharamshala looked possible.
The injury did not respond to treatment, however, and Leach has been ruled out of the tour. When the team fly to Rajkot on Monday, he will return to the UK.
In a significant show of faith in the young spin trio of Tom Hartley (24), Shoaib Bashir (20) and Rehan Ahmed (19), England have opted not to call up a replacement for now. Joe Root and Dan Lawrence are further spin-bowling options in the tour party.
The principal selection decision for England this week will be whether to bring a second seamer, likely Ollie Robinson or Mark Wood, into the XI alongside James Anderson, at the expense of one of the young spinners.
While the loss of 126 Test wickets worth of experience in Leach is a blow for the team, it will perhaps hurt the player himself even more. Leach suffered the injury in his first game back after seven months out with a stress fracture of the back, which saw him miss the Ashes, and continues a theme of misfortune in an eventful career. Leach suffers from Crohn’s disease, which led him to contract sepsis in New Zealand in 2019, and led him to fear for his life. He has also suffered concussions and been accused of having an illegal bowling action.
England are also missing Harry Brook, their brightest young batsman, for personal reasons. There is no suggestion at this stage that he will join the tour.
India are missing key players, too. The great batsman Virat Kohli, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, and quick Mohammed Shami have been ruled out of the tour, while Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul are battling to prove their fitness for the third Test.
Article courtesy of
Source link
