Australia vs India: Calf injury rules Umesh Yadav out of the Test series

Team India has dealt with an injury to another one of their bowlers and this time it is Umesh Yadav who hobbled off the field during the Melbourne Test. His name adds to the long injury list of India on the tour and the depth of their bowling attack is being tested. It remains to be seen who replaces him in the squad now with the reports of T Natarajan making his debut already doing the rounds.

Umesh Yadav played both the Test matches on the tour and picked four wickets while sending down 39.4 overs. He did well picking three wickets in the Pink Ball Test which India lost but was a bit disappointing in Melbourne when the team needed him to deliver with the new ball. Nevertheless, the pace bowler corrected his lines in the second innings nipping out Joe Burns early.

Just when he was bowling well, Umesh strained his calf muscle while delivering his fourth over of the innings and walked off the field. A renowned journalist Boria Majumdar confirmed the news of the fast bowler getting ruled out of the remainder of the Test series. Rather Umesh Yadav is set to return to India and the team management will be hoping for him to get fit for the upcoming England series.

In what is a downer for India @y_umesh will now be returning to India and is out of the series. Wish him a quick recovery and hope to see him back for the England series. Watch @SportsTodayofc @IndiaToday for more details.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) December 31, 2020

Who will replace Umesh Yadav?

Team India thankfully retained some of the players from the limited-overs squads as net bowlers for the Test series and there is every possibility that one of Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and T Natarajan play the next game. Saini is alrerady part of the squad while Thakur and Natarajan are with the team as net bowlers with the latter expected to earn a Test cap now.

Natarajan was not even in the original squad in the limited-overs leg of the tour. But an injury to Varun Chakravarthy gave him an opportunity and he impressed everyone in the four matches (1 ODI and 3 T20Is) he played. It was also reported recently that Natarajan troubled Ajinkya Rahane in the nets with the red ball. The third Test between Australia and India is set to be played from January 7.