England spinner Jack Leach has been ruled out of the second Test against India to be played from Friday, January 3 at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
Three Lions skipper Ben Stokes put forth the development around Leach, who would not be a part of the English team due to an injury on his left knee.
“He’s ruled out of the second Test. Unfortunately, the knock he took resulted in a haematoma,” Stokes was quoted as saying on Sky Sports.
‘”It’s a big shame for us and a big shame for him. It’s something we’re assessing every day but the medical team have taken over on that, so hopefully it’s not something too serious that keeps him out for longer,” he added.
When did Jack Leach sustain the injury?
Leach had bowled 26 overs in the first innings, but didn’t bowl a lot on day one as England bowling coach Jeetan Patel said that he had suffered a knock on his knee.
When it came to the second innings, the experienced spinner would only bowl 10 overs but got the big wicket of Shreyas Iyer.
On Wednesday, Leach had to finally give in and keep himself out of contention for the test in Vizag as he missed the training session on Wednesday.
Leach’s absence could mean that Shoaib Bashir could get the chance to make his international debut on February 2. After missing the first Test due to visa issues, Bashir would arrive in India during the weekend and linked up with the team in Hyderabad.
England made a brilliant start to their campaign in India after winning the opening Test by 28 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Tom Hartley picked up 9 wickets for them, including a 7-wicket haul in the second innings.
Ollie Pope won the Player of the Match award after he scored a match-winning 196 in the second innings.
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