Australia vs India 2018-19: Update on Prithvi Shaw's injury
What's the story?
Indian batsman Prithvi Shaw is on the road to recovery ahead of the second Test match between hosts Australia and India at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The teenager was seen wearing a protective brace on his left ankle while jogging around the Adelaide Oval on Monday ahead of the final day's play of the first Test, which India won by 31 runs.
The background
Shaw suffered a severe ankle injury while attempting a catch at the deep mid-wicket boundary during the one-off practice game against Cricket Australia XI on November 30 and was ruled out of the first Test at Adelaide.
He top-scored for India with a quickfire 66 off 69 balls in the first innings of that game at the SCG. A Man-of-the-Series winning performance in his debut Test series against the West Indies saw the young prodigy score 237 runs in three innings at an astonishing average of 118.50, with his highest score being 134.
Thanks to his consistency with the bat in the domestic circuit, Shaw's name was doing the rounds for quite sometime before he finally got his spot in the Test side against the visiting Windies team.
The 19-year-old Mumbaikar, who has played just one Test series in his career, was expected to perform well in the upcoming Test series on the pacy Australian tracks, such has been the confidence and maturity Shaw has shown in his batting in the matches he has played across formats. Unfortunately, the ankle injury kept him out of the Adelaide Test.
The heart of the matter
Shaw's injury opened the door for KL Rahul and Murali Vijay to open the innings for Team India at Adelaide in spite of their recent failures with the bat. Now that he is in a quest to make the XI for the Perth Test, though, either of these players might be rested with the axe likely to fall on Vijay.
The Indian camp though is still uncertain about his availability for the second Test with a return in the boxing Test (December 26) at MCG more likely. Coach Ravi Shastri told cricket.com.au, "With youth on his side there might just be a case where he might recover quicker. We'll make a call as and when we get closer to Perth".
What's next?
Though Shaw is showing signs of a quick recovery, India might not be tempted to field the youngster at Perth and they might try to give Vijay one more chance to prove himself.
Not just that, the team management will also be unwilling to change the winning XI, taking into account that not tinkering with the line-up would also provide more time for Shaw to recover completely.
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