Umesh Yadav, who limped off the field after bowling 3.3 overs in 2nd Test’s 2nd innings against Australia at Melbourne, has also been ruled out of the remainder of Test series. Earlier, Mohammed Shami picked up an injury while batting in the 1st Test which ruled him out of the remainder of Test series.
Umesh Yadav suffered a calf injury while Mohammed Shami was ruled out due to wrist fracture.
Umesh Yadav Set To Return To India
Umesh Yadav played both the Test matches so far and picked four wickets- three in Adelaide’s lost cause and 1 in Melbourne before suffering an injury. He failed to pick up a wicket in 1st innings of Melbourne Test. Nevertheless, the pace bowler was in the midst of a good spell in the second innings dismissing Joe Burns early.
Umesh Yadav strained his calf muscle just when he was bowling well enough in the midst of his fourth over of the innings and walked off the field. A renowned journalist Boria Majumdar confirmed the news of the pacer getting ruled out of the remainder of the Test series. Umesh Yadav is set to return to India and the team management will be hoping that he will get fit for the upcoming England series in India. He bowled 39.4 overs picking 4 wickets averaging 33.25.
His name adds to the long injury list of India on the tour and the depth of their bowling attack is being tested. It remains to be seen who replaces him in the squad now with the reports of T Natarajan making his debut already doing the rounds. Earlier, Mohammed Shami got injured and was replaced by Mohammed Siraj who debuted in 2nd Test picking 5 wickets averaging 15.4.
Umesh Yadav May Be Replaced By T Natarajan Who May Debut
Indian team retained some of the pacers from the limited-overs squads as net bowlers for the Test series and there is every possibility that one of Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and T Natarajan may be a part of Test XI for the 3rd Test. Navdeep Saini is already part of the original Test squad while Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan are with the team as net bowlers with the latter expected to earn a Test cap now.
Interestingly, T Natarajan was not even part of the original squad even in the limited-overs leg of the tour. But an injury to spinner Varun Chakravarthy forced selectors to include him after good performances in IPL 2020 and he impressed everyone in the four matches (1 ODI and 3 T20Is) he played. T Natarajan was the highest wicket-taker in T20I series with 6 wickets averaging a meagre 13.83.
He picked two wickets in 3rd and final ODI-his debut appearance. It was also reported recently that T Natarajan troubled stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the nets with the red-ball. The third Test between Australia and India is set to be played from January 7 at Sydney.