The 31-year old Ishant Sharma had suffered an injury to his right ankle during Delhi’s Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha last month. while appealing for an LBW decision he had twisted his ankle and had to be helped off the field. Since then, he has been in Bengaluru recuperating with physio Ashish Kaushik at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
Ishant “in” squad
Previously he had been included in the 16 man squad and will be considered in playing squad after clearing the fitness test. He has made sufficient recovery and could even stand a good chance of featuring in the Indian XI for the opening Test against New Zealand.
Based on the performance in warm match against New Zealand Umesh Yadav and Navdeep Saini may have their slot in for the replacement of Ishant. In case the team management feels that he might need a little more time to be recover.
It was a roller coaster ride for me after the injury on my ankle on the 20th January but with the help of Ashish Kaushik I managed to pull it off! Scans were a little scary, but today I am happy that I am fit ! 🏏 Thanks Ashish Kaushik! #recoverymode #recovery #postinjury pic.twitter.com/xwNpecc0Iz
— Ishant Sharma (@ImIshant) February 15, 2020
Ishant’s test carrier
Ishant Sharma played 96 matches with 173 innings and took 292 wickets in his test carrier. On his last tour of New Zealand in 2014, he took 15 wickets in two Test matches, even though India lost the series 1-0.
Road to recovery
Meanwhile, other injured players like Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar are on the road to recovery, although there isn’t any specific timeframe set for their comeback. Hardik Pandya recently failed to prove his fitness that leads him not to take part in the New Zealand series.
