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Michael Clarke in serious doubt for 1st Test against India
Sydney: Skipper Michael Clarke remains in extreme doubt for the first Test against India, starting Dec 4, after Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed his latest hamstring issue is a recurrence of the injury he suffered in Zimbabwe.
Clarke has also aggravated his troublesome back condition, further clouding the timeline for his return to cricket.
He has not been ruled out of the first Test in Brisbane but nor has CA predicted when he will be able to come back.
“Michael’s got a recurrence of the hamstring injury that he had in Zimbabwe. It’s not as bad as what it was in Zimbabwe but it’s in the same location,” Alex Kountouris, CA physio was quoted as saying by the SYdney Morning Herald.
“He’s also got a sore back. He’s had an aggravation of his back – the two are tied together which makes it quite complex.”
Clarke missed 10 weeks of cricket after breaking down in Zimbabwe at the end of August. The injury is not considered as serious this time, and it is believed he will play some part in the international summer, provided there is no further setback.
Clarke, however, would have to be an outside chance at best of leading his team onto the field in Brisbane against India.
He has already been ruled out of next week’s Shield game for New South Wales.
“I can’t put a finger on it right now, he hasn’t started running, hasn’t started doing the functional things we want him to do. He hasn’t been able to bat, he’s not ready to play at the moment,” Kountouris said.
“We’re still hopeful he might be right for the first Test because that’s two weeks away but we need to review it again next week. He needs to start running and doing things before we make a decision on whether he’s okay to start to play something.”
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.