Abhishek Sharma being assisted by a Team India physiotherapist after hurting his ankle during a practice session ahead of the second T20I cricket match between India and England, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai. (PTI Photo)
India have received an injury scare ahead of their second T20I against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Opener Abhishek Sharma twisted his right ankle while indulging in a warm-up routine on Friday evening here.
Abhishek was visibly in pain and was attended to by the physio. While he did walk after some attention to his ankle, and even made his way to the nets in the MAC B Stadium, the left-hander didn’t come out to bat.
The left-hander was seen limping at the nets, which puts a question mark on his participation for the match on Saturday evening. In the first match at Kolkata, the opener had top-scored for India with 79 that set-up a comfortable win at the Eden Gardens.
In case Abhishek is ruled out of the fixture, it would be interesting to see who would partner Sanju Samson at the top as they don’t have a third opener in the squad. In that case, one of Tilak Varma or Dhruv Jurel could come in place of the Punjab opener.
Steady Shami
India’s Mohammed Shami bowls during a practice session ahead of the second T20I cricket match between India and England, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (PTI Photo)
Mohammed Shami, who warmed the bench in Kolkata, bowled steadily at the nets. Initially, he bowled with a shortened run-up with a knee brace as bowling coach Morne Morkel kept a close tab. After a 15-20 minute session, he took a break before coming later on and bowled full throttle.
While his omission at Kolkata raised concerns about his fitness, The Indian Express understands that the pacer is match-fit and failed to make the XI only because of India’s combination preference. With India clearly looking for depth in batting and bowling, they have preferred to include all-rounders as both Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy found a place in the XI to go with the three spinners in Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi.
Arshdeep Singh was the lone pacer in the XI and the bowling make-up could remain the same at Chepauk as well.
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