India ace pacer Ishant Sharma, who was probably India’s only silver lining during their 10-wicket loss to New Zealand in Wellington Test, is likely to miss the upcoming second and final Test match against the Kiwis starting Saturday.
According to reports, the lanky fast bowler’s ankle injury that he picked up in January during a Ranji Trophy match in Delhi has recurred, forcing him to skip the Christchurch Test. Umesh Yadav is set to replace Ishant.
Ishant, whose participation in the first Test was uncertain due to the injury he had picked, travelled to New Zealand in the eleventh hour. He was straightaway drafted in the playing XI despite being jet-lagged and sleep-deprived.
However, the 31-year-old kept every complaint aside and ended up with a five-wicket haul in the first innings.
Riding on the brilliant performance of their pacers, New Zealand comfortably defeated India by 10 wickets in the first Test played at the Basin Reserve.
The hosts first bowled out India for 191 runs in the second innings and then chased down the nine-run target on Day 4 of the Test match with utmost ease to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Openers Tom Blundell and Tom
Latham completed the formalities as they scored the required nine runs inside the first two overs itself.
Brief scores: India 165 and 191( Mayank Agarwal 58, Tim Southee 5/61) vs New Zealand 348 all out and 9/0 (Tom Latham 7*, Tom Blundell 2*)