Revealed: Why Alyssa Healy, Asha Sobhana are not playing today's IND vs AUS Women's T20 World Cup match

India Women's National Cricket Team and Australia Women's National Cricket Team missed the services of Asha Sobhana and Alyssa Healy in the high-profile clash between the teams in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024.

The crucial match between the teams got underway at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday, October 13. Currently, Australia are at the top of the Group A points table with 6 points while India are in second position with 4 points.

Heading into the match, Australia suffered a major blow as Tayla Vlaeminck got ruled out of the entire tournament after getting injured in previous game. That was not it, as they were handed yet another blow when Alyssa Healy was spotted arriving at the stadium in crutches and got ruled out of the match against India.

The Aussies were not the only team with injury concerns as India also faced a setback when Asha Sobhana was ruled out of the crucial clash.

Why Alyssa Healy Is Not Playing Against India?

The skipper Alyssa Healy has been ruled out of the match against India due to a foot injury she suffered in the previous match. However, Cricket Australia is hopeful that Alyssa Healy will be available to take part in the next round of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup if Australia qualify. In an official statement, CA said:

"Alyssa Healy is unavailable for tonight’s game after suffering a foot injury on Friday night. She will continue to be assessed over the coming days and should Australia qualify for the semi finals, her availability will be determined in due course."

Tahlia McGrath replaced Alyssa Healy as the skipper for the match against the Women In Blue with Ellyse Perry serving as her deputy. Also, Beth Mooney took over the wicketkeeping duties.

Speaking after winning the toss, Australia Women skipper Tahlia McGrath said that they are totally focused on the match and not worried about injuries. She said:

"We are gonna bat first, put up a score on the board and take it from there. This is our third game here, looks like a slightly better surface than the previous ones. No concern about injuries right now with all the focus on the game. We have two changes - Grace Harris and Darcie Brown are in.

Why Asha Sobhana Is Not Playing Against Australia?

The star player Asha Sobhana was initially picked in the India XI but she suffered a knee injury on the sidelines of the toss and got ruled out of the match. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stated that Asha Sobhana will be replaced by Radha Yadav in the XI. BCCI stated:

"Ms Asha Sobhana is unable to participate in the today's game against Australia after she suffered a knee injury during the warm-up on the sidelines of toss.

"Radha Yadav will replace Asha in the Playing XI. The ICC Match Referee requested the Australian captain who agreed to the request for a replacement in India's Playing XI. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring Asha's progress."

Meanwhile, speaking at the toss the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said that they are confident of beating the Aussies. She said:

"It's absolutely fine, we have to bowl them out for a low total and chase it down. It's our first game here, we have watched many games on TV and we have our plans. We have beaten them in the past too and we can again do that. One change for us - Pooja (Vastrakar) comes in for Sajana."

India vs Australia Playing XIs:

India Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur Singh

Australia Women (Playing XI): Beth Mooney(w), Grace Harris, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath(c), Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown