England are hoping Jack Leach can rally from a “pretty serious” knee injury after the side’s senior spinner struggled to play his part on a troublesome day in Hyderabad.
The experienced left-armer was pencilled in to lead the attack on the turning pitches of India but could only manage a reduced role as the hosts opened up a 175-run lead on day two of the first Test.
He contributed just 16 wicketless overs across three sessions and none of his spells lasted longer than four, forcing part-timer Joe Root take up the slack alongside rookies Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed.
Assistant coach Jeetan Patel revealed Leach landed awkwardly on his left knee while fielding on the first evening and aggravated the problem with a second blow after returning in the morning session.
Leach, who missed the entirety of last summer’s Ashes with a stress fracture of the back, remained on the field and came on six times in an attempt to disrupt India’s march towards a formidable 421 for seven.
“Jack banged his knee last night, the first dive down at fine leg, then he banged it again today and it’s giving him a little jip to be honest,” said Patel.
“It must be pretty serious, or serious for him anyway, because the reality is he wouldn’t shirk that responsibility. It is sore enough, if you watch him in the outfield and I don’t think it’s a graze.
“You noticed he was a little sluggish trying to get to balls, but he stuck at it and I thought he actually bowled really, really well considering. He tried everything and he used the options he had, bearing in mind he was a bit hampered.
“That’s what Jack does for this team, he’ll always put in, but it’s a bit of a shame from where he’s come (with his rehabilitation), to dive on one at fine leg and all of a sudden you’re hobbling around.”
Part-timer Joe Root picked up 24 overs of the workload and came out in credit with two for 77 but the inexperience of Hartley and Ahmed was evident as they failed to stem the flow of runs. With the squad’s fourth specialist spinner, the uncapped Shoaib Bashir, yet to arrive in the country following visa delays, England know they cannot risk Leach’s knee getting any worse.
“It’s about being smart. We’ve got four Tests to go and another innings at the back end of this game,” said Patel.
“We need a key man like Jack.”
Despite shipping 302 runs in the day slipping to what could prove an irretrievable position, Patel was full of praise for England’s attitude in the field and insisted heads would not drop.
“It was a tough day but the effort the guys put in were immense, through the roof almost,” he said.
“If you walked into the ground and didn’t know the score you’d almost think we were right on top of the game. Today proves what that changing room is about. We just need to make sure we come back, have that same attitude about how we take those three wickets, and the game will work itself out from there.”
Archer back in IPL auction despite being left off the shortlist
Jofra Archer will be in the IPL auction after all, having been left off the shortlist initially.
The fast bowler was an entry on the longlist but did not appear among the names after it had been whittled down to 574 last week.
There had been no word from Archer as to why he had pulled out of the auction and re-entered, although the prospect of playing in the IPL in future could have been key.
According to new rules in the competition, a player will be ineligible to play in the IPL for two years if they do not enter the auction.
Archer has struggled with injury since 2020 and has carefully worked his way back from an elbow problem he suffered last year. Having been part of England's white-ball set-up since May, he has a desire to get back into Test cricket.
The 29-year-old has not played the longest form of the game in nearly four years and, if picked for the IPL, could find it harder to get back into it.
With the early rounds of the County Championship season clashing with the IPL, it could harm Archer's ability to prove his fitness and reduce his chances of playing in a home Test in 2025. Additionally, he could also find it difficult to force his way in for the Ashes in Australia next winter.
Magnificent Bumrah humbles Australia after India batting collapse
India wrestled control back from Australia to leave them 67-7 at the close of play, despite having been bowled out for just 150 earlier on a remarkable first day in Perth.
The tourists chose to bat first, having made six changes from their Test defeat to New Zealand earlier this month, but things did not go well for them as they were reduced to 32-3 and 73-6.
Virat Kohli struggled again and went for just five after being caught by Usman Khawaja. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and number three Devdutt Padikkal were both playing in Australia for the first time and were dismissed for ducks.
Rishabh Pant (37) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41) dragged India to a level of respectability before their bowlers tore through the Australian batting lineup.
Jasprit Bumrah (4-17) was India's saviour, producing a spell to leave the hosts 19-3. Nathan McSweeney (10) went on lbw after a review, Khawaja (8) was caught in the slips and Steve Smith was out on his first ball after another lbw.
Both Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh went for a combined total of 17 runs, with Marnus Labuschagne next to go for two off 52 balls. Pat Cummins was the final wicket of the day, meaning Australia finished on 67-7 with Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc at the crease.
Data debrief: Australia and India go wicket crazy
It was undoubtedly a day for the bowlers on the first day in Perth, with 17 wickets being the most to have fallen on the opening day of a Test in Australia since 1952.
While all 10 of Australia's wickets were caught, India managed four dismissals through either bowling their opponent or lbw.
Following his unplayable performance in Perth, Bumrah now has 177 Test wickets for his country and can count himself unlucky not to have had more.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
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