India vs Australia: Mohammad Shami to Undergo Six-Weeks Rest

India pacer Mohammad Shami will be undergoing six weeks rest on arrival in India. The 30-year-old was hit on his bowling hand while batting against Australia in Adelaide on the third and final day of the first Test match. The pacer will have to undergo a mandatory quarantine on arrival in India. Following the incident he was rushed to a nearby hospital for a scan which revealed a hand fracture and as a result he could not participate in the next three Test matches.

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"Shami has been advised six weeks of rest and he will be leaving for India on Wednesday," a source told IANS."Mohammed Shami has a fracture and the chances of him taking part in the remaining three Test matches is next to nil,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. He added that Mohammed Siraj, for his impressive show in the two warm-up games, will be in line for a Boxing Day Test debut in Melbourne.

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The injury to Shami is a huge blow for India, who will be without their original captain Kohli for the rest of the series. Kohli will be returning home for the birth of his first child. India are also without Ishant Sharma for the tour due to fitness reasons. It means India will be heavily reliant on Jasprit Bumrah, with Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj the other pace options. Saini and Siraj are yet to play Test cricket.

Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav are the other bowling options among ones in the squad. Shami had gone wicketless in the first innings after bowling 17 overs.

After their pace bowlers Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) caused a carnage to skittle out India for 36, their lowest Test total, Australia reached the target of 90 for the loss of just two wickets. Opener Joe Burns remained unbeaten on 51 off 63 balls. Having conceded a 53-run first innings lead, with the Indians adding a further nine to it on Friday night itself, Australia moved into driver's seat early in the first session itself as they ended Indian innings at 36.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Kohli expected India to bounce back in the series. "I am pretty confident that the team is going to bounce back in Melbourne, and a few of the guys are going to realise their true character and how they can step up . I am very, very confident that we will definitely learn from this. I don't think we ever had a worse batting performance. We can only go upwards from here and understand that as a team we can do special things when we think of partnerships and batting together. I very, very confident that we will bounce back strongly in the next one. I have no doubts at all on that. You will see guys stepping up and realising their true character and doing the job for the team."The second Test starts on December 26 in Melbourne.

(With PTI Inputs)

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