India head coach Ravi Shastri believes teenage India opener Prithvi Shaw is likely to return in the third Test on Boxing Day.
Shaw, 19, was ruled out of the opening two Tests against Australia after injuring his left ankle during the practice game against Cricket Australia XI in Sydney last Friday. The incident occurred in the 15th over of Australia’s innings when the youngster was attempting to take a catch on the boundary line.
Aussie batsman Max Byrant had smashed Ravichandran Ashwin over the mid-wicket and the ball looked to be going for a six when Shaw tried to take a catch. He succeeded in taking the catch but twisted his left ankle in the process. He was writhing in pain and was forced to be stretched out after being unable to get up by himself.
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The injury was later revealed as a lateral ligament injury, ruling him out of the first two-Test matches. But Shastri feels that he might completely recover during the second match in Perth and will be fit to play in the Boxing Day Test.
“It was heartbreaking to see him go down,” Shastri told cricket.com.au, as reported by NDTV.
“But the good thing is he’s recovering quickly. He’s already started walking. Hopefully, if we can get him to run a bit by the weekend, that’s really good signs.
“With youth on his side, there might just be a case where he might recover quicker.
“We’ll make a call as and when we get closer to Perth.”
Meanwhile, both India and Australia announced their squad for the opening match in Adelaide. Virat Kohli announced a 12-man squad at the media conference on Wednesday. The first Test starts on December 6.
India: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma
Australia: Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine(C & WK), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood (VC).
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