In an unfortunate event for India, premier pacer Mohammed Shami has been advised for six-week rest following his injury in the first day-night Test match against Australia in Adelaide. The pacer will fly back home on Wednesday, leaving his team to combat against the strong Australians in the remaining three Test matches.
Mohammed Shami sustained the injury while batting during the second innings of Australia. He got hit on his right arm which is his bowling arm by a delivery from the speedster Pat Cummins. Being in excruciating pain, he tried to continue to bat but he couldn’t stay for longer. As a result, he was declared retired hurt following which he also didn’t come to bowl and was taken to hospital for a scan.
Scans revealed that he had fractured his forearm. The pacer is set to fly back to India on Wednesday, December 23 and will undergo a brief quarantine upon reaching his home country.
“Shami has been advised six weeks of rest and he will be leaving for India on Wednesday,” a source was quoted as saying in The Statesman.
Mohammed Shami to be fit by the end of January:
Shami is expected to gain full fitness by the end of January and should be available for selection in India’s home series against England that starts on February 5 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. But many are reports are claiming that he won’t be available for the first test as well.
As far as the ongoing Test series is concerned, Mohammad Siraj is likely to replace Mohammed Shami in the playing XI. The pacer was in the squad as the backup pacer. India also has Navdeep Saini as an option but Siraj had shown more promising performance in the warm-up matches. So, he is likely to make his debut in Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) where the two teams will play the second Test scheduled to begin on December 26.