Remember, the last time India had toured Australia, there were as many as 11 players who had gotten injured, in 2020-21 series. Yes, we did manage to win our second successive Test series Down Under, but the cost was way too heavy. Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the first two Tests, while Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed out due to side strains.
IND vs AUS, Injured XI
Then KL Rahul was ousted of the last two Tests due to wrist injury. Mayank Agarwal sustained a finger injury while batting in the nets. Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer were in the list too, who couldn’t make their presence felt. Hanuma Vihari helped India save the fourth Test, but then was ruled out due to hamstring injury. Even Rishabh Pant had a hit from Pat Cummins, on his elbow, but he managed to play till the end of the series. Ravindra Jadeja dislocated his thumb and couldn’t play the last Test. Then come the bowlers, it was R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah, who missed different parts of the tour.
Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul Sustain Injuries
Many felt, that was the worse tour for any Indian team, in terms of casualties. Now, come 2024-25 IND vs AUS series Down Under, that could change quickly. The series is yet to begin on November 22 at Perth, and there are already a few casualties, namely — Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and even Sarfaraz Khan.
All four were reportedly injured during nets session on Thursday, and during the intra-squad match on Friday. Rishabh had a groin issue, Sarfaraz Khan took a blow to his elbow, so did Rahul, while it’s not clear, what went wrong with Virat. For now, Rishabh, Virat and Sarfaraz seem okay, but the blow to Rahul seems pretty serious. This could be a big problem for the team, since the latter was expected to fill in for Rohit Sharma, in his absence for the 1st Test.
If reports from various publications are to be believed, the Indian batters are yet to get adjusted to the pace and bounce on offer in Australia, especially Perth, that is one of the quickest venues in the world. Sarfaraz Khan, who is on his first tour, as reported by The West Australian, failed to judge the bounce, and wasn’t as effective, playing his unconventional shots.
If this lack of adjustment to the Australian pitches continues, then not only India will have to hope for a miracle like 2020-21, but will also have to find suitable replacements.
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