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Three Indian players ruled out injured ahead of second Test against Australia

13th December, 2018
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13th December, 2018
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India have been dealt a blow ahead of the second Test with Australia in Perth, after Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma were both reportedly ruled out of the second Test with various injuries.

Numerous outlets are reporting the Ashwin won’t be available for the visitors with an abdominal strain, while Sharma is out with a rumoured jarred back.

To make matters worse for the tourists, Prithvi Shaw hasn’t recovered from his earlier ankle injury and also won’t be available.

India will likely turn to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav as they look to assault Australia with a four-man pace attack on the green Perth wicket.

Part-time spinner Hanuma Vihari is tipped to take Sharma’s spot in the middle order.

The 32-year-old Ashwin was leaned on heavily by the Indians in the first Test, bowling 86.5 overs across the two innings – Jasprit Bumrah was next with 48.

He went 3/57 in the first innings – removing three of Australia’s top four batsmen in Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh – before claiming the scalps of Aaron Finch, Khawaja and Josh Hazlewood for the final out in the second.

While the vastly-different Perth pitch would have likely seen him used far less anyway, his absence will still be sorely felt by an Indian side desperate to secure their first ever Test series win in Australia.

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Sharma, on the other hand, struggled in the first Test. After putting up a solid first innings, he threw his wicket away on 37 runs, before falling for just the one run in the second.

While Sharma has never quite been able to take flight at Test level, his outrageous form in white-ball cricket has made him on of the most ominous batting propositions in the Indian line-up.

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