Amid ongoing India vs Australia 2019 two-match Twenty20 International series (T20Is), the visitors are dealt with a massive blow in the form of paceman Kane Richardson’s side injury. The reports of injury surfaced hours ahead of the second T20I against the Men in Blue at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Thus, Cricket Australia (CA) on February 27 (Wednesday) has announced the Perth-based bowler Andrew Tye as his replacement.
Meanwhile, it’s understood that Richardson has picked an injury during batting session ahead of the limited-series opener in Hyderabad.
“Kane reported some left side pain at training prior to the opening T20I in Vizag. Unfortunately he has not recovered well enough in order to play a further part in the tour,” Australia team physio David Beakley told CA.
Richardson will fly home to undergo a rehabilitation programme. Beakley stressed that they would oversee his progress during a couple of weeks.
CA to look after Richardson before the World Cup:
According to the Australian media, Richardson has bowled a couple of deliveries. But he walked out too early of the nets on Tuesday (February 26).
“Kane will return home to continue his rehabilitation, and we (will) monitor his progress over the coming weeks,” Beakley said.
Earlier, owing to the Qantas tour of India, the guests won the cliffhanger by three wickets on February 24 (Sunday) in Vizag.
Well, the Western Australia (WA) bowler Tye has been added to the One-day International (ODI) squad to join pace trio Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson and Nathan Coulter-Nile, who bagged three wickets in the series opener in Visakhapatnam.
Tye is one of the examples of the perfect replacement in Australian set-up. His variations have often paid rich dividends for the Australians. Recently, he has bagged 17 wickets for Perth Scorchers in the 2018-19 edition of the Big Bash League (BBL).
Richardson off the cricketing road for a couple of weeks:
Across formats, Richardson has bagged 36 scalps. Since 2013, Richardson has featured in 18 ODIs and nine T20Is for Australia.
In 14 matches, in the recently-held eighth edition of the BBL, the right-arm paceman Richardson bagged 24 scalps, to lead the wickets chart. He represented the BBL champions Melbourne Renegades team which subsequently thumped Melbourne Stars in the grand finale.
Furthermore, the day-long format is termed as the key preparations for the 2019 World Cup. The quadrennial event will commence from May 30 at the Kennington Oval in London.
With India having a last-gasp for the tune-up to the upcoming World Cup, Australia will face-off Pakistan in the five-match ODI series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in March.