Australia’s injury woes have worsened with the continuation of the second Test preparations against India. Steve Smith reportedly suffered a finger injury while batting in the nets, getting a throwdown from Marnus Labuschagne, who himself had faced an injury from a rising delivery bowled by assistant coach Daniel Vettori.
Despite these setbacks, both Smith and Labuschagne are expected to play the second Test in Adelaide. Labuschagne continued batting even after his injury, while Smith sought treatment from the team physio and was batting a short while later, indicating there were no fitness concerns.
The Australian squad, still reeling from the 295-run defeat in the first Test at Perth, will also be without pacer Josh Hazlewood, who has been ruled out with a side strain. In his absence, uncapped pacers Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett have been called up, along with right-arm medium pacer Scott Boland.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh has reported soreness in his ankle but reassured fans of his readiness for the second Test. “The body’s all good, yep. Nah, nah, I’m good to go,” Marsh stated confidently as he arrived in Adelaide.
Australia will be looking to bounce back after their heavy defeat, with India coming off a strong performance. Led by Jasprit Bumrah in the absence of Rohit Sharma, India made an excellent recovery after being dismissed for just 150 runs in their first innings.
Key contributions came from Bumrah, with eight wickets across both innings; Virat Kohli, who belted an unbeaten 100; and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made a sterling 161. There was also KL Rahul, who chipped in with 77 in the second innings. Debutants Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana were not bad either.
