Australia’s aggressive opening batsman David Warner has been ruled out of the remaining two Test matches against India to be played in Indore and Ahmedabad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 due to an elbow fracture.
David Warner joins right-arm fast bowler Josh Hazlewood in the list of injured players who have been ruled out of the remaining Test series, in which India have already taken an unbeatable 2-0 lead and are primed to inflict a 4-0 whitewash against the world No 1 Test team.
The left-handed opening batsman David Warner, who was horribly out of form in the first two matches of the series at Nagpur and New Delhi, suffered a few blows on his body against Indian fast bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami in the second Test match.
A blow to his helmet had ruled him out of the New Delhi Test in the second innings, as Australia lost the game in a spectacular manner by 6 wickets after suffering an embarrassing batting collapse.
While David Warner will now return home to Sydney to recover from the elbow injury which is said to be a hairline fracture, he will be expected to return to India late in the month of March to take part in a three-match one-day international series starting on March 17 in Mumbai.
Earlier on Monday, Australia had declared Josh Hazlewood as another casualty to injury as the right-arm fast bowler was sent home after being made to work hard on his match fitness ever since they arrived in India. Josh Hazlewood is suffering from an Achilles injury and he is not 100 per cent fit to bowl in Test match cricket.
According to ESPNcricinfo, as of Monday night, David Warner was willing to stay back in India to try and play in the third Test but further “testing on his pain and range of motion”, he was ruled out officially from the tour and will return home in Sydney along with his family.
The report added that the visitors are not likely to call up any other player as cover for David Warner. In the New Delhi Test, Travis Head opened the innings for Australia along with Usman Khawaja and made an impressive 43 in the second innings, which was the highest score among all their batsmen displaying positive intent and clean footwork against challenging spin bowling from the Indian bowlers.
While Mitchell Starc is not yet 100 per cent fit yet to take part in the third Test to be played from March 1 at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, all-rounder Cameron Green is completely fit and available for selection for this match.
It must be remembered that with about a 10-day gap between the second and third Test, Australia captain Pat Cummins returned home in Sydney to attend a family matter but he will be back well in time for the start of the third Test.