We Are Expecting Ishant Sharma To Be Back For Australia Tests, Says Sourav Ganguly

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is hopeful pacer Ishant Sharma will recover in time to feature in the Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia. Last month, the India star was ruled out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE after suffering an abdominal muscle tear.

He is currently rehabilitating at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Last week, the 32-year old was left out of the Test squad when the selectors announced all the three squads for the upcoming tour. Ishant Sharma’s participation on the Australia tour is subject to him clearing fitness and also the board’s ability to charter him to Australia at a later stage.

And Sourav Ganguly has hinted that the pacer would be sent to Australia if he recovers in time for the Test series which starts on December 17. Giving a promising update on the pacer, the former India skipper revealed that Ishant Sharma has already started bowling with shorter run-ups.

“Yes, we are expecting Ishant to be back for the Test matches,” Ganguly told PTI. “He has already started bowling from shorter run-ups and short spells. He has bowled at NCA. But as there is a BCCI protocol for fast bowlers, Ishant will be playing the two first-class games in Australia.

“Injuries are a part of sport and it will happen. The lesser you play, the more injured you will get. The more you keep playing, your body gets fitter, stronger and you will get less injured. All of them came back after seven months of being locked at home with literally no activity. I don’t think injuries should be looked at like ‘Oh god, something is not right’,” he added.

India would be hoping that their senior pacer recovers in time for the challenging series. Ishant Sharma had played a vital role when India won the historic series during the 2018-19 tour. The right-arm pacer had returned 11 wickets from 3 Tests at an average of 23.81.

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