India vs Australia: Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja taken for scans as injury worry mounts

Sydney, January 9: India suffered another injury scare as wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were taken for scans on the third day of the third Test here at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday (January 9), the BCCI confirmed via a Tweet.

Pant was hit on the forearm by Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins. He looked in big pain and the Indian team physio attended him before Pant was given a go-ahead to bat. Eventually, he was dismissed for 36 off 67 balls, edging Josh Hazlewood to David Warner at slips.

The way Pant got hit on the forearm reminded the way Mohammed Shami was hit during the Adelaide Test, incidentally off Cummins. Shami suffered an elbow fracture and was ruled out of the Test series then.

Later, all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja was also taken to the hospital for scans after he suffered an injury on his thumb. Jadeja's 28-run knock allowed India to limit Australia's first-innings lead to less than 100 but towards the end, a short ball from Mitchell Starc hit him on the gloves and he needed immediate medical attention.

"Ravindra Jadeja suffered a blow to his left thumb while batting. He has been taken for scans," the BCCI stated in a media release. He was in pain and once the team was back in the field for the second innings, his left thumb looked pretty swollen and the physio applied taping on it. He threw a few balls but then it was decided that it won't be possible for him to continue.

The left-arm spinner also picked up four wickets in the first innings. With Jadeja too going out, the tourists are left with only Ravichandran Ashwin as the only spinner in the second innings. If Jadeja doesn't come out to bowl and bat in the second innings, the Indians will be dealt with a huge blow and their chances of staying in the game will get bleak.

It is certain that Pant will not keep in Australia's second innings as Wriddhiman Saha donned the big gloves. India had already lost Umesh Yadav to calf injury during the second Test at Melbourne and Ishant Sharma, who had suffered a side strain during the IPL 2020, was ruled out of the entire series and did not travel to Australia.

In the meanwhile, Pant also completed 400 Test runs in Australia with a highest of 159 that he scored at Sydney during the 2018-19 tour. During the course of his 26, he also became the first player to score 9 or more scores above 25 in Australia.