The Indian team was hit by a plethora of injuries for the second Test match against New Zealand, which is being played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
The home team had to make three changes to their playing XI due to injury woes. The hosts had to leave out Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Rahane, who hasn’t been in the best of forms in the last two years, had a left hamstring strain which he suffered while fielding in the second innings of the first Test against the Kiwis. Jadeja has a right forearm injury that required scans which revealed swelling. “He has been advised rest,” stated a BCCI release.
Furthermore, Ishant Sharma had suffered a finger in the opening Test at Kanpur. Thus, Virat Kohli, Jayant Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj came into the team’s final XI in place of these three players.
However, former Indian batter VVS Laxman was left a tad surprised at the revelation of these injuries as Virat Kohli didn’t provide any update on the eve of the second Test match in the pre-match press conference. Kohli had revealed that Wriddhiman Saha is fit after recuperating from a stiff neck, which had troubled him in the first Test.
“Did something happen this morning? But Virat Kohli said nothing about in the press conference yesterday. It is obviously a big blow. Jadeja was injured in that England series and Axar Patel came in and he was named Player of the Series,” Laxman said on Byju’s Cricket Live on Star Sports.
“The way he bowled was just fantastic to see. And then you saw Shreyas Iyer, who came in place of Virat Kohli. He straightaway stamped his authority under tremendous pressure. So I guess India have got very good players who can replace players who are missing due to injuries.”
On the other hand, New Zealand is also without the services of their skipper Kane Williamson, who is ruled out due to an elbow injury. Tom Latham is leading the tourists in place of their full-time skipper.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Kohli said at the toss, “We’re batting first. Looks like a hard wicket and not a lot of grass. With the sun out, it should be the best time to bat. Rahane had a hammie niggle on Day 5, Jadeja has a swollen right forearm, and Ishant has an injury too. We just have to do the basics right like in Kanpur. NZ must be given credit for batting out the overs on Day 5. We can be in positions to capitalize at home if we play well”.
