India’s injury crisis deepened ahead of Friday’s second Test in Vizag with Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul both ruled out.
England, who lead the series 1-0 after a stunning win in Hyderabad, are still assessing left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who injured his knee in his first game back from a stress fracture of the back. Leach had a scan on the injury on Monday and is still wearing significant strapping, but it is thought that there is no significant damage and he could play in Vizag if the swelling continues to ease. He will be assessed when England next train, on Wednesday.
India, meanwhile, will be without half their first-choice team for the second Test. Virat Kohli is absent for personal reasons, while Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant are on the road back from short- and long-term injuries respectively.
Now Jadeja and Rahul, who posted India’s high scores of the match in Hyderabad, have joined them. All-rounder Jadeja suffered a hamstring injury in the process of being run out by Ben Stokes on the fourth day, while batsman Rahul “complained of right quadriceps pain”, according to a statement from the Indian management.
To make matters worse for India, their vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah was handed a demerit point for “deliberately stepping in Ollie Pope’s way as the batter went for a run, leading to inappropriate physical contact”.
Three players have been called up to the India squad for the second Test: batsman Sarfaraz Khan and spin-bowling all-rounders Saurabh Kumar and Washington Sundar. They already had batsman Rajat Patidar and wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the squad. All of Sarfaraz, Kumar and Patidar are uncapped.
Jadeja’s absence as the side-balancing all-rounder presents a particular headache as they look to bounce back in the series. Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik believes paceman Mohammed Siraj, who went wicketless in Hyderabad, could be dropped to accommodate more batting and three spinners.
“I do think they will look to pack the middle order even more, to give them the confidence to go out there and do what they do,” Karthik told the BBC. “They could play just one fast bowler, then maybe add an extra batter. Rajit Patidar is waiting in the wings.”
Karthik expects India to come out “all guns blazing” in the second Test, but believes they are badly missing Kohli.
“Kohli’s energy, what he brings to the Test just with his attitude, is something they missed,” he said. “They were flat towards the back end of day three. That was a time they missed Virat. He is sorely missed with the bat, but maybe even more so what he brings in terms of stature and energy to a cricket field.
“The India team have always come back from adversity well and they will come out all guns blazing with bat and ball. You will see a different India with different plans. I hope they are a lot more attacking with the bat. We saw when Yashasvi [Jaiswal] took on the spinners, how it looked then, to how different it was in the second innings when they were a bit meek and waiting for things to happen.”
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