India star quick Yadav out
Melbourne: India has been dealt yet another major blow to its
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Gavaskar campaign with fast bow le r
Umesh Yadav ruled out of the series with a calf strain.
ESPNCricinfo reports that Yadav has withdrawn from the final two Tests, joining on the sidelines Mohammad Shami (broken arm), Ishant Sharma (side) and captain Virat Kohli (paternity leave). Yadav left the MCG during day three of the Boxing Day Test and was unable to return with scans revealing his series is over.
India must now find yet another fast bowling replacement having handed Mohammed Siraj his debut in Melbourne for Shami, who broke his arm in the first Test.
Despite missing Shami and Kohli in Melbourne, India comfortably won the second Test to level the four-match series 1-1.
Nonetheless, the tourists’ highlyrated bowling attack — which guided India to a 2-1 win in 2018-19 — is now down to the bare bones with only Jasprit Bumrah still available from that fast-bowling group. Navdeep Saini is already part of India’s squad and could take Yadav’s spot in the XI, while Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan and Kartik Tyagi are touring as net bowlers. Only Thakur has a Test cap for India, playing one match in October 2018 in which he was injured and didn’t bowl an over.
Yadav’s departure will be positive news for an Australian side struggling with the bat all series having failed to make more than 200 runs. However, India’s main weapons with the ball, Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin, are still it and firing with the decisive third-Test looming.