IPL 2021: Injury scare for Australia prior to 2021 T20 World Cup after Marcus Stoinis limps off during DCvsSRH match

Prior to the 2021 T20 World Cup, Australia have faced been with a slight concern after Marcus Stoinis, reportedly, sustained an injury during Delhi Capitals’ match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

After bowling a solitary delivery in his second over, the medium pacer walked off the field, having pulled out in his delivery stride. Stoinis seemed to have developed a leg/calf injury that has put him into a bit of trouble with less than a month remaining for the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Capitals’ physio Patrick Farhart checked on him before Stoinis decided to walk off. For the time being, the severity of Stoinis’ injury isn’t known, ESPNcricinfo reported, and the Aussies and DC will be keeping their fingers crossed.

Marcus Stoinis didn’t come out to bat against SRH

Ravi Ashwin bowled the remaining five balls of the ninth over and gave 13 runs after being hit by a four each by Kane Williamson and Manish Pandey. Steve Smith replaced Stoinis on the field. Stoinis didn’t get a chance to bat after Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and skipper Rishabh Pant helped the Capitals to an eight-wicket win, having chased down 135 with 13 balls to spare.

The game on Wednesday happened to be Stoinis’ first since the first leg of the IPL 2021 in India. The 32-year-old backed out from Australia’s tour of West Indies and Bangladesh due to the restrictions surrounding the bio-secure bubbles in the Covid-19 pandemic.

If his injury turns out to be a serious one, Australia have the option of including Daniel Christian in their squad. Christian is one of the three players in the Australian travelling reserves after featuring in the T20Is in West Indies and Bangladesh.

Christian was lethal with the bat against the Tigers as he smashed Shakib Al Hasan for 30 runs in one of the overs while opening the batting in Dhaka. However, his performances with the ball in hand wasn’t quite deemed at par.

Australia are scheduled to start their campaign in the World Cup with the game against South Africa on October 23 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.