Injury scare makes Ishant Sharma’s participation in the Afghanistan Test doubtful

Indian pacer Ishant Sharma is in England representing the county side Sussex as he was not picked by any team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and this presented a better opportunity for him to prepare ahead of the Indian team’s tour of England. He is scheduled to return back home for the historic one-off Test against Afghanistan that is slated to be played from June 14 in Bangalore.

However, with less than two weeks to go for the game Ishant hurt himself yet again and had to miss Sussex’s match against Essex. The nature and extent of the injury hasn’t been revealed yet and he will undergo scans; this is the second time that the pacer has been injured in this county season.

Previously he had suffered a shoulder injury last month during their match against Gloucestershire. He was fielding in the deep when he sustained the injury. It had forced him out of Sussex’s following match against Middlesex. His recent injury was revealed when Sussex named Ollie Robinson as his replacement for the Indian pacer.

Ishant has in this county stint played four first-class matches and picked 15 wickets at an average of 23 with the best bowling figures of 4/52. Along with the FC games, he’s also played the List A matches in the Royal London One-Day Cup, and in 6 matches and has 8 wickets to his name with an economy of 4.81.

🦈 One change for us today here at The Saffrons. @ollierobinson25 returns, replacing the injured @ImIshant.

Your Sussex Sharks XI: Wells, Wright, Finch, Brown*+, Evans, Burgess, Wiese, Archer, Jordan, Robinson, Briggs

🎥 A word from the skipper… #gosbts #SharkAttack pic.twitter.com/H56vhlsw8x

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) June 3, 2018

Ishant will have to undergo a fitness Test ahead of the match as the team has made yo-yo test mandatory for all the players. In case the injury is a bit more serious and takes longer to recover his participation on the tour of England could be in trouble as well. Team India will play five Tests there and his experience will be crucial for them in a bid to win their first ever series.

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