England's Zak Crawley ruled out of first two Tests vs India
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England batsman Zak Crawley has been ruled out of the first two Tests against India with a jarred wrist, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Thursday. Crawley, 23, had slipped on a marble floor outside the dressing room during training ahead of the first Test against India in Chennai, starting from Friday.
England batsman Zak Crawley has been ruled out of the first two Tests against India with a jarred wrist, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Thursday. Crawley, 23, had slipped on a marble floor outside the dressing room during training ahead of the first Test against India in Chennai, starting from Friday.
Crawley, with the slip, sprained the joint which led to local inflammation. The England medical team will continue to assess Crawley's progress over the next few weeks.
"Scan results have confirmed that Crawley has jarred his right wrist, which has sprained the joint and led to local inflammation," the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement.
"It's really frustrating and frustrating for Zak in particular," Joe Root, the England captain, told reporters during a virtual press conference on the eve of the first Test in Chennai.
"It was a freak accident, walking out of the change room and slipped over and landed on his wrist. Hope it's the last one," he said.
However, Root didn't reveal who would replace the Kent batsman, who smashed 267 runs for his maiden Test century against Pakistan at Southampton in August.
When asked whether Root would promote himself up at number three in the batting line-up, the England Test captain said: "There are a different number of things we have got. We have got some brilliant players, different options to choose from. We will look at the balance of the side but we will discuss it over today's course."
India and England will play four Test matches with the first two scheduled to be played in Chennai and the remaining two in world's largest cricket stadium - Sardar Patel Stadium - in Ahmedabad.
The Virat Kohli-led outfit will look to continue their domination on home soil. India last lost a Test match in home conditions in the year 2016 and last Test series in 2012.