 The Australian side has been hit by injury woes ahead of the second ODI against
the Indian side to be played at Nagpur on Wednesday. James Hopes, who bowled
only two overs in the first game at Baroda against the Indians has been ruled
out of the second game due to a hamstring injury. It has been said that he will
be fit for the remaining games.
The other problems that the Aussie management will face is with the bowling
of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, both of whom have been laid low by
injuries and niggles. Johnson's injury had come about in the first game, when
he twisted his ankle while fielding at mid-on, and ended up in a nasty position.
He went back into the pavilion, but came back to complete his ten overs in a
marvellous act of bravery. However, overnight, the ankle ligaments would have
swollen up and caused him the issues because of which, he will have to be monitored
over the next couple of days.
Lee also had issues during the game itself. In fact, his elbow hurt and despite
being on the field for most bit of the fifty overs of the Indian batting, he
bowled only six overs - for 28 runs - before not being able to complete his
spell. Lee has just joined the Australian team after being in India for one
month, playing in the Champions League T20 and ending up being the man
of the series. Given his knowledge about these conditions, if Brett Lee
is not able to play in the next couple of ODIs or so, it will be a huge blow
to the chances of the side. One has already seen what happened, in the first
game when the absence of Lee meant that the remaining bowlers went for a lot
of runs and brought India close to a win.
"James has suffered a minor right hamstring strain. He will therefore
be unavailable for the next game... however [he] is expected to be available
for the latter games of this series", is what the team physio said about
Hopes. He also added that both Johnson and Lee have undergone tests and will
be monitored over the next couple of days leading up to the next game before
a decision on their participation will be taken for the same.
Already, Australia is without three of their batsmen in Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Cullum Ferguson.
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