Jack Leach set to undergo knee surgery following injury during India series

In a setback for England's cricket squad, left-arm spinner Jack Leach is set to undergo surgery after a knee injury forced him out of the India tour. The unfortunate incident occurred during the first Test in Hyderabad when Leach banged his left knee while diving near the boundary line. Despite the setback, he managed to secure a crucial wicket during the run-chase, that of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma's, accentuating his passion for the game.

Leach discussed his upcoming surgery to address persistent swelling in his knee, attributing the issue to an unfortunate incident during the said match where he sustained an injury while fielding in the first innings.

"I'm going to have an operation to get the rest of the swelling out because it's not budging. It was quite an unfortunate one. It was the second ball of the first innings in the field so that whole game I was playing with this knee problem. I obviously knocked it a few times throughout that game, and it has just created a long period of recovery," Leach shared his plans for surgery while speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live.

The injury comes as a blow to Leach, who was making a comeback from a stress fracture of the back that kept him sidelined during the Ashes series played during last summer. Despite facing challenges throughout the game due to the knee problem, he remained resilient, while contributing to England's performance and their eventual victory.

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"I need to get the operation done and then hopefully I can get back to playing cricket. I'd love to have a run of playing cricket and getting into a bit of a rhythm again and hopefully that can happen again once I've got this sorted," Leach expressed, highlighting his eagerness to be back in the scheme of things.

It's a big shame for us, a big shame for Jack: Stokes

With Leach out, England's spin department has seen promising performances from the newbie youngsters Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, and Rehan Ahmed. Ben Stokes expressed disappointment about Leach's setback, emphasizing the significance of the situation for both the team and Leach, particularly after his prolonged absence from the game due to a back problem. 

"It's a big shame for us, a big shame for Jack, obviously after a long time out of the game with his back," said Ben Stokes after Leach was first ruled out due to a stress fracture to his lower back in 2023, as reported by The Cricketer.

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