LIVE: Usman Khawaja remains under a fitness cloud as Day 5 of the Ahmedabad Test looms, with the star Australian batter injuring his knee or leg attempting a catch on the boundary on the fourth Test.
The left-hander limped off the field and remained sidelined for nearly two hours while India batted, and did not come out to bat late in the afternoon as nightwatchman Matt Kuhnemann opened alongside Travis Head.
“He has soreness in his left lower leg, just below the knee on the outside of the lower leg. Will be assessed again at the ground,” a team spokesman said, per News Corp.
“He did have a (MRI) scan, which is standard procedure. The imaging did not reveal anything conclusive.”
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Khawaja will undergo a fitness Test to decide whether he can bat. If he is unable to pad up on the final day of the Border Gavaskar Trophy series, it could prove a serious impediment to Australia’s hopes of batting the full day and ensuring a draw.
Meanwhile, India risks missing out on the World Test Championship final with a draw – something which would make their decision to serve up an absolute road for the final Test a terrible mistake.
Australia secured their place in June’s final with victory in the third Test in Indore. But a draw could see India miss out should Sri Lanka stun New Zealand 2-0 in their current tour of Australia’s neighbours.
New Zealand is currently 1/36 in their second innings on Day Five of the first Test, chasing a target of 285 runs to win – but a rain delay means Sri Lanka has just 49 overs remaining to bowl the hosts out. A draw is likely – meaning India will join Australia in the WTC final in England.
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While a draw looms in Christchurch, it also appears the most likely outcome in Ahmedabad.
Asked about the possibility of a result on day five, India’s Axar Patel said at stumps on day four: “Anything can happen anytime, especially if we take two early wickets and they come under pressure – but this isn’t a pitch where we can run through them. We will have to work hard, remain patient, and keep bowling in the right areas.”
He added the hosts were surprised at how well the pitch held up – remaining completely in favour of batters even through four days.
Patel said: “We were a bit surprised with the pitch. Thought there will be a bit of purchase off it but haven’t got it. We were surprised that the first innings ended on day four … There are no footmarks, nothing.”
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India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann