As an exciting Indian Premier League (IPL) season nears its climax, the focus gradually starts shifting back on international cricket. In the coming months, the Indian team has an exciting Foreign Touring Program (FTP) lined ahead, promising much wholesome cricket action for the fans.

While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made travel and touring situations slightly dicey- India looks set to tour Australia soon after the IPL. However, even before the team embarks on its campaign to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is tasked to announce their squads for the series. And given the long IPL season most players will be coming from; fitness should be a vital parameter for selection.

Moreover, some of the top India players are battling injuries in the cash-rich league and their participation in the upcoming tour has put in doubt.

Here are the players who are battling with the injuries at the moment:

Mayank Agarwal

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-457052" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Mayank-Agarwal-2.jpg" alt="Mayank Agarwal" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457052" class="wp-caption-text">Mayank Agarwal. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption>

Ever since his debut at the MCG in 2018, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2020-reason-why-mayank-agarwal-is-not-playing-in-kxip-vs-srh-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mayank Agarwal</a> has established himself as a front-liner of the Indian red-ball team. The mercurial Karnataka opener has had a stellar run in his Test career so far; in 11- games, Agarwal has accumulated 974-runs- the tally including 3-hundreds and 2 double-hundreds- averaging strong at 57.29.

Clearly a proven customer, the Indian team would be itching to put his consistency to good use against Australia- both in the Test and LOI formats. His coming-of-age IPL campaign for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) thus far (398-runs @ 155.47, averaging 39.80) makes an even stronger case for his selection.

But those plans might all have to take a backseat, thanks to an injury Mayank recently picked up. Punjab’s recent group stage match against Delhi saw him painfully slipping on the grass while running. In the process, he badly sprained his right leg.

The severity of his injury is presently unknown, but KXIP did decide to rest him for their next game. Regardless, both his IPL franchise and the national team would hope to have him out of the injury cloud before the Australia tour.

Rohit Sharma

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-448270" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Rohit-Sharma.jpg" alt="Rohit Sharma" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-448270" class="wp-caption-text">Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption>

One of the batting mainstays of the current Indian line-up, Rohit ‘Hitman’ Sharma has been in good touch in the ongoing edition of the IPL. The Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper has finally settled himself to the opening slot, where, from nine innings, he has amassed 260 runs at an impressive strike rate of 129.35.

With his other opening partners also showing fine form, the Indian team would be quite bolstered to have Rohit’s maturity in the squad across all three formats. Although there is a slight bit of uncertainty around that premise. In MI’s latest group-stage match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the Hitman decided to sit out and nurse a pulled hamstring that he had (has?) been carrying.

Stand-in captain <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kieron-pollard-gives-an-update-on-rohit-sharmas-fitness-for-ipl-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kieron Pollard</a> did reaffirm that the injury wasn’t too serious, and Rohit being rested was yet another workload-management idea. Nonetheless, both Mumbai and Indian fans would feel much more reassured to see Rohit back into the side soon and go about his hard-hitting business as usual.

Ishant Sharma

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-455045" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Ishant-Sharma.jpg" alt="Ishant Sharma" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455045" class="wp-caption-text">Ishant Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

In a bowling attack that has been frequently plagued by injuries and niggles, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/bhuvneshwar-kumar-and-ishant-sharma-are-unlikely-to-be-available-for-india-tour-of-australia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ishant Sharma</a> proudly looms tall as an outlier. The lanky Delhi fast-bowler has been one of team India’s all-time fittest pacers. In fact, his ability to keep bowling long spells tirelessly for prolonged periods makes him an invaluable asset to captain Virat Kohli’s high-performance Test team.

Presently, though, he is recuperating from an abdominal muscle tear he picked up in the IPL. It is understood that Ishant suffered back spasms while bowling in the Delhi Capitals’ nets a month before the tournament started.

Despite that, he featured in a group-stage match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), which only worsened the injury; so much so, that he was ruled out of the tournament. As per speculations, Ishant hasn’t made much progress on his injury yet, and it seems quite likely that he won’t be able to feature in the Border-Gavaskar Test series.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-451628" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Bhuvneshwar-Kumar.jpg" alt="Bhuvneshwar Kumar" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451628" class="wp-caption-text">Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption>

In recent times, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2020-srh-pacer-bhuvneshwar-kumar-ruled-out-of-the-tournament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bhuvneshwar Kumar</a>’s robustness has been a genuine concern for the national team. A long-running series of injuries and niggles have kept him out of the ODI team for almost an entire year. It’s even worse in the red-ball format, where he hasn’t played a match in nearly 2 years. And from the looks of it, there’s a strong possibility that Bhuvi will be missing out on all the action in Australia as well.

After six months of training and endurance, the Meerut fast-bowler finally looked in sublime touch to lead SRH’s bowling attack. But that particular premise turned out rather short-lived- 4 matches, to be precise. Midway through bowling a crucial over against CSK, Bhuvi ended up injuring his left thigh, ruling him out of the contest.

A week later, he was officially out of the tournament with a hip injury- as local Andhra seamer <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/facts-about-srhs-latest-signing-yarra-prithviraj-all-you-need-to-know/">Yarra Prithviraj</a> replaced him at SRH. The current status on his injury looks doubtful too, and as per reports, the BCCI is already mulling over his replacement options. Fair to say, Bhuvneshwar’s participation in the Australia series seems highly unlikely.

Hardik Pandya

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-451248" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kieron-Pollard-Hardik-Pandya.jpg" alt="Kieron Pollard &amp; Hardik Pandya" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451248" class="wp-caption-text">Kieron Pollard &amp; Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption>

Yet another player who has been at a constant receiving end with fitness issues- particularly back-problems. With Hardik, it dates back to the 2018 Asia Cup match against Pakistan, where he had pulled his back during bowling and had to be stretchered off the live match.

Ever since, the mercurial Baroda all-rounder’s utility as a full-time bowling option has been quite compromised. Retrospectively, Hardik could have taken a longer lay-off that year to have the issue comprehensively assessed. But with the 2019 World Cup soon approaching, Hardik didn’t have much choice other than to side line the issue- which, consequently, has had a rather long-term impact.

Right after the World Cup ended, Hardik put his back under the knife- missing out on some key international assignments in the process- to get back to full match fitness. Sadly though, Hardik’s back problem seems to have escalated into a rather chronic issue now, one that he has come to terms with.

So far in this season, he has been playing for MI as a specialist batsman and hasn’t bowled a single delivery. The loss of his all-round abilities might force the BCCI to reconsider Shivam Dube and Vijay Shankar as their all-rounder choices, which could well affect the team balance against the Aussies.

~Written by Soham Bhowal

As an exciting Indian Premier League (IPL) season nears its climax, the focus gradually starts shifting back on international cricket. In the coming months, the Indian team has an exciting Foreign Touring Program (FTP) lined ahead, promising much wholesome cricket action for the fans. 
While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made travel and touring situations slightly dicey- India looks set to tour Australia soon after the IPL. However, even before the team embarks on its campaign to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is tasked to announce their squads for the series. And given the long IPL season most players will be coming from; fitness should be a vital parameter for selection. 
Moreover, some of the top India players are battling injuries in the cash-rich league and their participation in the upcoming tour has put in doubt.
<h3>Here are the players who are battling with the injuries at the moment:</h3>
<h3 class="western">Mayank Agarwal</h3>
<figure id="attachment_457052" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457052" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-457052" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Mayank-Agarwal-2.jpg" alt="Mayank Agarwal" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457052" class="wp-caption-text">Mayank Agarwal. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption></figure>
Ever since his debut at the MCG in 2018, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2020-reason-why-mayank-agarwal-is-not-playing-in-kxip-vs-srh-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mayank Agarwal</a> has established himself as a front-liner of the Indian red-ball team. The mercurial Karnataka opener has had a stellar run in his Test career so far; in 11- games, Agarwal has accumulated 974-runs- the tally including 3-hundreds and 2 double-hundreds- averaging strong at 57.29. 
Clearly a proven customer, the Indian team would be itching to put his consistency to good use against Australia- both in the Test and LOI formats. His coming-of-age IPL campaign for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) thus far (398-runs @ 155.47, averaging 39.80) makes an even stronger case for his selection. 
But those plans might all have to take a backseat, thanks to an injury Mayank recently picked up. Punjab’s recent group stage match against Delhi saw him painfully slipping on the grass while running. In the process, he badly sprained his right leg. 
The severity of his injury is presently unknown, but KXIP did decide to rest him for their next game. Regardless, both his IPL franchise and the national team would hope to have him out of the injury cloud before the Australia tour. 
<h3 class="western">Rohit Sharma</h3>
<figure id="attachment_448270" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-448270" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-448270" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Rohit-Sharma.jpg" alt="Rohit Sharma" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-448270" class="wp-caption-text">Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption></figure>
One of the batting mainstays of the current Indian line-up, Rohit ‘Hitman’ Sharma has been in good touch in the ongoing edition of the IPL. The Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper has finally settled himself to the opening slot, where, from nine innings, he has amassed 260 runs at an impressive strike rate of 129.35. 
With his other opening partners also showing fine form, the Indian team would be quite bolstered to have Rohit’s maturity in the squad across all three formats. Although there is a slight bit of uncertainty around that premise. In MI’s latest group-stage match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the Hitman decided to sit out and nurse a pulled hamstring that he had (has?) been carrying. 
Stand-in captain <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kieron-pollard-gives-an-update-on-rohit-sharmas-fitness-for-ipl-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kieron Pollard</a> did reaffirm that the injury wasn’t too serious, and Rohit being rested was yet another workload-management idea. Nonetheless, both Mumbai and Indian fans would feel much more reassured to see Rohit back into the side soon and go about his hard-hitting business as usual. 
<h3 class="western">Ishant Sharma</h3>
<figure id="attachment_455045" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455045" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-455045" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Ishant-Sharma.jpg" alt="Ishant Sharma" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455045" class="wp-caption-text">Ishant Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
In a bowling attack that has been frequently plagued by injuries and niggles, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/bhuvneshwar-kumar-and-ishant-sharma-are-unlikely-to-be-available-for-india-tour-of-australia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ishant Sharma</a> proudly looms tall as an outlier. The lanky Delhi fast-bowler has been one of team India’s all-time fittest pacers. In fact, his ability to keep bowling long spells tirelessly for prolonged periods makes him an invaluable asset to captain Virat Kohli’s high-performance Test team. 
Presently, though, he is recuperating from an abdominal muscle tear he picked up in the IPL. It is understood that Ishant suffered back spasms while bowling in the Delhi Capitals’ nets a month before the tournament started. 
Despite that, he featured in a group-stage match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), which only worsened the injury; so much so, that he was ruled out of the tournament. As per speculations, Ishant hasn’t made much progress on his injury yet, and it seems quite likely that he won’t be able to feature in the Border-Gavaskar Test series. 
<h3 class="western">Bhuvneshwar Kumar</h3>
<figure id="attachment_451628" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451628" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-451628" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Bhuvneshwar-Kumar.jpg" alt="Bhuvneshwar Kumar" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451628" class="wp-caption-text">Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption></figure>
In recent times, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2020-srh-pacer-bhuvneshwar-kumar-ruled-out-of-the-tournament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bhuvneshwar Kumar</a>’s robustness has been a genuine concern for the national team. A long-running series of injuries and niggles have kept him out of the ODI team for almost an entire year. It’s even worse in the red-ball format, where he hasn’t played a match in nearly 2 years. And from the looks of it, there’s a strong possibility that Bhuvi will be missing out on all the action in Australia as well. 
After six months of training and endurance, the Meerut fast-bowler finally looked in sublime touch to lead SRH’s bowling attack. But that particular premise turned out rather short-lived- 4 matches, to be precise. Midway through bowling a crucial over against CSK, Bhuvi ended up injuring his left thigh, ruling him out of the contest. 
A week later, he was officially out of the tournament with a hip injury- as local Andhra seamer <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/facts-about-srhs-latest-signing-yarra-prithviraj-all-you-need-to-know/">Yarra Prithviraj</a> replaced him at SRH. The current status on his injury looks doubtful too, and as per reports, the BCCI is already mulling over his replacement options. Fair to say, Bhuvneshwar’s participation in the Australia series seems highly unlikely.
<h3 class="western">Hardik Pandya</h3>
<figure id="attachment_451248" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451248" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-451248" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kieron-Pollard-Hardik-Pandya.jpg" alt="Kieron Pollard &amp; Hardik Pandya" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451248" class="wp-caption-text">Kieron Pollard &amp; Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption></figure>
Yet another player who has been at a constant receiving end with fitness issues- particularly back-problems. With Hardik, it dates back to the 2018 Asia Cup match against Pakistan, where he had pulled his back during bowling and had to be stretchered off the live match. 
Ever since, the mercurial Baroda all-rounder’s utility as a full-time bowling option has been quite compromised. Retrospectively, Hardik could have taken a longer lay-off that year to have the issue comprehensively assessed. But with the 2019 World Cup soon approaching, Hardik didn’t have much choice other than to side line the issue- which, consequently, has had a rather long-term impact.
Right after the World Cup ended, Hardik put his back under the knife- missing out on some key international assignments in the process- to get back to full match fitness. Sadly though, Hardik’s back problem seems to have escalated into a rather chronic issue now, one that he has come to terms with. 
So far in this season, he has been playing for MI as a specialist batsman and hasn’t bowled a single delivery. The loss of his all-round abilities might force the BCCI to reconsider Shivam Dube and Vijay Shankar as their all-rounder choices, which could well affect the team balance against the Aussies.
~Written by Soham Bhowal

As an exciting Indian Premier League (IPL) season nears its climax, the focus gradually starts shifting back on international cricket. In the coming months, the Indian team has an exciting Foreign Touring Program (FTP) lined ahead, promising much wholesome cricket action for the fans. 
While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made travel and touring situations slightly dicey- India looks set to tour Australia soon after the IPL. However, even before the team embarks on its campaign to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is tasked to announce their squads for the series. And given the long IPL season most players will be coming from; fitness should be a vital parameter for selection. 
Moreover, some of the top India players are battling injuries in the cash-rich league and their participation in the upcoming tour has put in doubt.
<h3>Here are the players who are battling with the injuries at the moment:</h3>
<h3 class="western">Mayank Agarwal</h3>
<figure id="attachment_457052" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457052" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-457052" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Mayank-Agarwal-2.jpg" alt="Mayank Agarwal" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457052" class="wp-caption-text">Mayank Agarwal. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption></figure>
Ever since his debut at the MCG in 2018, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2020-reason-why-mayank-agarwal-is-not-playing-in-kxip-vs-srh-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mayank Agarwal</a> has established himself as a front-liner of the Indian red-ball team. The mercurial Karnataka opener has had a stellar run in his Test career so far; in 11- games, Agarwal has accumulated 974-runs- the tally including 3-hundreds and 2 double-hundreds- averaging strong at 57.29. 
Clearly a proven customer, the Indian team would be itching to put his consistency to good use against Australia- both in the Test and LOI formats. His coming-of-age IPL campaign for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) thus far (398-runs @ 155.47, averaging 39.80) makes an even stronger case for his selection. 
But those plans might all have to take a backseat, thanks to an injury Mayank recently picked up. Punjab’s recent group stage match against Delhi saw him painfully slipping on the grass while running. In the process, he badly sprained his right leg. 
The severity of his injury is presently unknown, but KXIP did decide to rest him for their next game. Regardless, both his IPL franchise and the national team would hope to have him out of the injury cloud before the Australia tour. 
<h3 class="western">Rohit Sharma</h3>
<figure id="attachment_448270" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-448270" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-448270" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Rohit-Sharma.jpg" alt="Rohit Sharma" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-448270" class="wp-caption-text">Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption></figure>
One of the batting mainstays of the current Indian line-up, Rohit ‘Hitman’ Sharma has been in good touch in the ongoing edition of the IPL. The Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper has finally settled himself to the opening slot, where, from nine innings, he has amassed 260 runs at an impressive strike rate of 129.35. 
With his other opening partners also showing fine form, the Indian team would be quite bolstered to have Rohit’s maturity in the squad across all three formats. Although there is a slight bit of uncertainty around that premise. In MI’s latest group-stage match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the Hitman decided to sit out and nurse a pulled hamstring that he had (has?) been carrying. 
Stand-in captain <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kieron-pollard-gives-an-update-on-rohit-sharmas-fitness-for-ipl-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kieron Pollard</a> did reaffirm that the injury wasn’t too serious, and Rohit being rested was yet another workload-management idea. Nonetheless, both Mumbai and Indian fans would feel much more reassured to see Rohit back into the side soon and go about his hard-hitting business as usual. 
<h3 class="western">Ishant Sharma</h3>
<figure id="attachment_455045" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455045" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-455045" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Ishant-Sharma.jpg" alt="Ishant Sharma" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455045" class="wp-caption-text">Ishant Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
In a bowling attack that has been frequently plagued by injuries and niggles, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/bhuvneshwar-kumar-and-ishant-sharma-are-unlikely-to-be-available-for-india-tour-of-australia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ishant Sharma</a> proudly looms tall as an outlier. The lanky Delhi fast-bowler has been one of team India’s all-time fittest pacers. In fact, his ability to keep bowling long spells tirelessly for prolonged periods makes him an invaluable asset to captain Virat Kohli’s high-performance Test team. 
Presently, though, he is recuperating from an abdominal muscle tear he picked up in the IPL. It is understood that Ishant suffered back spasms while bowling in the Delhi Capitals’ nets a month before the tournament started. 
Despite that, he featured in a group-stage match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), which only worsened the injury; so much so, that he was ruled out of the tournament. As per speculations, Ishant hasn’t made much progress on his injury yet, and it seems quite likely that he won’t be able to feature in the Border-Gavaskar Test series. 
<h3 class="western">Bhuvneshwar Kumar</h3>
<figure id="attachment_451628" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451628" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-451628" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Bhuvneshwar-Kumar.jpg" alt="Bhuvneshwar Kumar" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451628" class="wp-caption-text">Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption></figure>
In recent times, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2020-srh-pacer-bhuvneshwar-kumar-ruled-out-of-the-tournament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bhuvneshwar Kumar</a>’s robustness has been a genuine concern for the national team. A long-running series of injuries and niggles have kept him out of the ODI team for almost an entire year. It’s even worse in the red-ball format, where he hasn’t played a match in nearly 2 years. And from the looks of it, there’s a strong possibility that Bhuvi will be missing out on all the action in Australia as well. 
After six months of training and endurance, the Meerut fast-bowler finally looked in sublime touch to lead SRH’s bowling attack. But that particular premise turned out rather short-lived- 4 matches, to be precise. Midway through bowling a crucial over against CSK, Bhuvi ended up injuring his left thigh, ruling him out of the contest. 
A week later, he was officially out of the tournament with a hip injury- as local Andhra seamer <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/facts-about-srhs-latest-signing-yarra-prithviraj-all-you-need-to-know/">Yarra Prithviraj</a> replaced him at SRH. The current status on his injury looks doubtful too, and as per reports, the BCCI is already mulling over his replacement options. Fair to say, Bhuvneshwar’s participation in the Australia series seems highly unlikely.
<h3 class="western">Hardik Pandya</h3>
<figure id="attachment_451248" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451248" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-451248" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kieron-Pollard-Hardik-Pandya.jpg" alt="Kieron Pollard &amp; Hardik Pandya" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451248" class="wp-caption-text">Kieron Pollard &amp; Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption></figure>
Yet another player who has been at a constant receiving end with fitness issues- particularly back-problems. With Hardik, it dates back to the 2018 Asia Cup match against Pakistan, where he had pulled his back during bowling and had to be stretchered off the live match. 
Ever since, the mercurial Baroda all-rounder’s utility as a full-time bowling option has been quite compromised. Retrospectively, Hardik could have taken a longer lay-off that year to have the issue comprehensively assessed. But with the 2019 World Cup soon approaching, Hardik didn’t have much choice other than to side line the issue- which, consequently, has had a rather long-term impact.
Right after the World Cup ended, Hardik put his back under the knife- missing out on some key international assignments in the process- to get back to full match fitness. Sadly though, Hardik’s back problem seems to have escalated into a rather chronic issue now, one that he has come to terms with. 
So far in this season, he has been playing for MI as a specialist batsman and hasn’t bowled a single delivery. The loss of his all-round abilities might force the BCCI to reconsider Shivam Dube and Vijay Shankar as their all-rounder choices, which could well affect the team balance against the Aussies.
~Written by Soham Bhowal

BCCI is expected to pick the squad for the Australia tour early next week.

Team India players who sustained injuries in IPL ahead of Australia tour

Team India players who are expected to tour Australia are facing little injury issues in the Dream11 IPL 2020