Australia vs India 2020-21: Wriddhiman Saha suffers hamstring injury, may miss Australia Tests

India wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha suffered a hamstring tear that may jeopardise his chances of playing in the upcoming Tests in Australia.

Also Read: MPL to become the new kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team ahead of the Australia tour

Saha had been in sparkling form for his franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2020 scoring crucial runs opening the innings. His runs were instrumental in helping his team reach the play-offs of this year’s IPL. In the four matches that he played, Saha scored a total of 214 runs at a strike rate of 139.86, including two fifties.

Speaking before the Qualifier 2 against the Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers captain David Warner shared the news of Saha’s hamstring injury. Subsequent reports confirmed that Saha had pulled his groin in an earlier game against the Capitals but played through the pain barrier in the next group game against the Mumbai Indians. Incidentally, Saha scored a crisp 58* of just 45 balls against the Indians to help his team win. But whether he should have been allowed to play that match, despite carrying an injury, is up for debate.

Wriddhiman Saha’s injury presents a fresh headache for India’s selectors before the upcoming Australia tour. The team will already be without the services of Rohit Sharma, who also suffered a hamstring injury but has continued to play for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL after a short layoff, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has a thigh injury. However, pacer Ishant Sharma, who missed most of the IPL 2020 with a muscle tear, is expected to be fit in time for the first Test in Adelaide.

If Wriddhiman Saha does miss out, then Rishabh Pant, also named in the Test squad, seems to be his most likely replacement. Apart from Pant, the team management could also look at KL Rahul, who has regularly kept wickets for his IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab this year.

Also Read: Out of IPL 2020, Virat Kohli shifts to Team India’s bio-secure bubble

India’s tour of Australia begins on November 27 with three ODIs followed by three T20Is. The first of the four Tests begins on December 17 at Adelaide with subsequent matches to be played in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

India’s Test squad for Australia: Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj.

Featured Photo: Twitter/ICC