Team India is likely to miss out on the services of their two lead pacers, Ishant Sharma (Tests) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (ODIs and T20Is) during the upcoming tour of Australia. Both the players were part of IPL 2020 but were ruled out. Ishant, who only played one match for Delhi Capitals, returned home due to an abdominal muscle tear.
Bhuvneshwar, Sunrisers Hyderbad’s vice-captain, was ruled out due to a thigh injury. He scalped three wickets in his four-match stint. As per a report in The Times of India, Ishant is running out of time and is highly unlikely for the tour. He has travelled to National Cricket Academy (NCA) after returning to India. Bhuvneshwar also remains in doubt for the tour.
“It’s highly unlikely Ishant will be fit in time for the tour. He was happy that former India physio Patrick Farhart was looking after him at Capitals in Dubai. But since he is a BCCI-contracted player, he had to go to NCA,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by TOI.
Both players have had fitness issues in the past couple of years. Ishant missed the final Test against Australia in 2018/19 and was also facing a race against time for the New Zealand tour earlier this year. He did play the opening Test but missed the second game due to an ankle issue.
Should Ishant miss the Austalia tour, he will have to wait for few months to complete his 100 Test matches. The senior pacer has donned 97 Test caps so far. Following the Australia tour, Team India is scheduled to play against England at home.
The tour will start in November end with the first two ODIs being played in Sydney on November 27 and November 29. The series will then shift to the Manuka Oval in Canberra where India will play an ODI on December 1. The end of the ODI series will be followed by a three-match Twenty20 International series and the first game will be played on December 4. The series will once again shift back to Sydney for two T20Is.
