England vs India: Ravi Ashwin suffers a minor injury ahead of the series opener

Many eyebrows were raised when Ravi Ashwin didn’t come out to bat, bowl or field on the second day of the practice game between Essex and India. The visitors opted to try all their pace bowlers while defending the total of 395 runs in the first innings. Only Ravindra Jadeja bowled a couple of overs of spin out of the 58 overs bowled by India in Chelmsford on Thursday. However, it has emerged that the premier off-spinner has suffered a minor hand injury and didn’t take the field as a precautionary measure.

The Indian team management doesn’t want to take any chance it seems as their ace pace bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are already injured. Ashwin is likely to play a crucial role in the five-match Test series if the summer in England continues to be hot and it is imperative that he remains fit for the whole duration.

According to the Times of India, Ravi Ashwin was hit on the right hand during a net session on Thursday morning and to avoid any further damage, he decided to take rest. The team management has cleared that the physio has taken a look and deduced it as a minor injury. Ashwin also bowled in the nets during the lunch break.

It remains to be seen if he will roll his arm on the third and final day of the match or will continue to rest in order to make himself available for Edgbaston Test.

Pacers pick five wickets

After posting 395 on the board, the Indian bowlers warmed up nicely. They scalped a couple of early wickets to leave Essex at 45/2 but then lost the steam and conceded 3 fifty-plus partnerships during the course of the day. The skipper Tom Westley and Michael-Kyle Pepper slammed half-centuries after which James Foster and Paul Walter made sure that there were no more hiccups to end the day on 237/5.

Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma were impressive of the lot for the Indians as they shared a couple of wickets each. But Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami were disappointing as they leaked runs. The visitors would be keen to bundle them out early on the final day and bat again in the second innings.

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