BCCI on Saturday informed that Shubha Satheesh has been ruled out of the One-off women’s Test against England in Navi Mumbai due to a finger fracture. In her international debut, she made 69 in India’s first innings, the highest score in India’s 428 all out, but she did not bat in India’s 186 for 6 declared in the second innings.
Shubha Satheesh did not take the field on the second day of the Test on Friday and did not bat in India’s second innings. As India set a massive 479-run total for England, Harleen Deol replaced Shubha as the substitute fielder. Shubha’s half-century is the second-fastest in recorded women’s Tests, trailing only Sangita Dabir’s 40-ball fifty.
It is unknown when Shubha’s injuries occurred during the game. When India bowled on Friday, she was seen in the dugout wearing a splint on her left ring finger. There was no visible evidence of the injury when she arrived at the post-match press conference following play on Thursday’s first day. She also took part in India’s pre-game warm-up on Friday.
“Shubha Satheesh did not bat in the second innings due to a broken finger and will take no further part in the ongoing India-England Test,” the BCCI statement read.
However, it was revealed that Shubha had undergone scans, and on-air commentators on Friday stated that she had suffered a hairline fracture in her finger. She is now in a race to be ready for the Australia Test match, which begins next Thursday at Wankhede Stadium.
Shubha Satheesh has had an interesting couple of weeks. She was selected by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL 2024 auction only days after obtaining her first India call-up for Tests against England and Australia.
The 24-year-old allrounder is doubtful for India’s next Test against Australia, as well as the subsequent ODI and T20I series, as she is unlikely to recover from a broken finger in a week. The opening Test in the Australia series will take place on December 21 at Wankhede Stadium. It’s a significant setback for the young batsman, who entered the Indian team after 6-7 years of domestic cricket.
India defeated England by 347 runs in the greatest women’s Test victory in history. In the first innings, India scored 428 before knocking England out for 136.
The hosts rejected the follow-on and batted again before declaring their second innings at 186 for 6, setting a target of 479 runs. Deepti Sharma starred with the ball for India’s women’s team as she picked up 9/39 in both innings.
