In a bizarre turnaround of events, England are hit with an injury blow even before the start of the 4-match Test series in India. Zak Crawley who is slated to play at No. 3 position against India has been ruled out of the first two matches against India. Both the Test matches were to be played in Chennai starting from Dec 05.
Crawley opened the batting for England in the recent 2-match Test series in Sri Lanka but did not have any success as opener – 35 runs in 4 innings with the best score of 13. With their regular opener Rory Burns returning for the India series, Crawley was slotted to play at this usual no. 3 position but this injury meant he is now sidelined for the first two Tests in India.
“Following the results of last night’s scan, England top-order batsman Zak Crawley has been ruled out of the first two Tests of the India versus England series. Scan results have confirmed that Crawley has jarred his right wrist, which has sprained the joint and led to local inflammation. The England medical team will continue to assess his progress over the next few weeks,” stated ECB in their media release.
According to ECB, Crawley sustained the wrist injury during their practice in Chennai on Tuesday (Feb 02) when he slipped on the marble floor leaving the dressing rooms onto the field of play. With Crawley ruled out, it would be a big task up ahead for the visitors to find a player for this position.
Meanwhile, England on Wednesday (Feb 03) added Ollie Pope to their Test squad in India who completely recovered from the shoulder injury. He is now available to feature in the first Test match against India in Chennai. It would be interesting to see if England can send in Pope at No. 3 in the absence of Crawley.
The first (Feb 05 – 09) and second (Feb 13 – 17) Test matches between India and England are scheduled to be played at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. The third (Feb 24 – 28) and fourth (Mar 04 – 08) Test matches are scheduled to be played at the newly built Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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