Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin battled through the pain and defied Australia for 42 overs as India showed tremendous resilience in saving the Sydney Test against Australia. Heading into the fourth and final Test in Brisbane, both teams are tied 1-1. However, Ajinkya Rahane's Indian cricket team have suffered some major injury blows which could jolt their prospects of winning in Brisbane. According to reports, Hanuma Vihari has suffered a hamstring tear during his marathon 161-ball 23 and that has ruled him out of the Brisbane Test. The reports are also suggesting that Hanuma Vihari may well be out of the England Test series as well that begins in February. This comes in the aftermath of Ravindra Jadeja suffering a dislocated thumb which has also effectively ruled him out for not just the Gabba Test but also for the England series.
In place of Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur has been included in the Indian cricket team for the Brisbane Test and it is likely that he will make his debut. A BCCI source told the Indian Express that the team management is waiting on the reports of Hanuma Vihari's injury but he is most likely to be out for four weeks in addition to the rehabilitation process. The Indian cricket team will have a lot of thinking to do when they have to decide on the playing 11 for the Brisbane Test, with Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw as the back-up batsmen. They may also want to play Rishabh Pant purely as a batsman and make Wriddhiman Saha keep wickets.
Ravichandran Ashwin also injured
During the Sydney Test, even Ravichandran Ashwin was in considerable pain when he came out to bat. According to his wife Priti, she described the ordeal that Ravichandran Ashwin faced before he came to bat. "The man went to bed last night with a terrible back tweak and in unbelievable pain. He could not stand up straight when he woke up this morning. Could not bend down to tie his shoe laces. I am amazed at what @ashwinravi99 pulled off today," Priti wrote on her Twitter handle.
The guts and determination shown by R Ashwin was fabulous. He had to face plenty of sledging from Australia skipper Tim Paine who was chirping behind the stumps when he said, "This could be your last series." The comments were not well received with many former cricketers blasting Tim Paine's choice of words.
Australia have not lost a Test in Brisbane since 1988 when the West Indies team defeated them. Since then, Brisbane has been Australia's fortress and they will be determined to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at their fortress and continue their winning run.
