The Australian head coach, Justin Langer reckons that the delayed 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was to blame for so many injuries marring Australia’s blockbuster series against India. Usual, IPL starts in March, but along with other major international sporting events was postponed as countries went into coronavirus lockdowns and it had to move to the United Arab Emirates as cases rose in India and only got underway in September 19, culminating on November 11.
Talking about the same, Justin Langer said, “It’s really interesting how many injuries there have been throughout this summer. We suffered through it during the white-ball series and (India) through the Test series. We’ll review this, but I can’t help think that the IPL this year probably wasn’t ideal timing for anyone, certainly for such a big series like this.”
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David Warner and Marcus Stoinis were among Australians who suffered during the white-ball series. India was then depleted during the high-stakes Tests series, with the last game scheduled to be taking place in Brisbane this week. They have lost experienced fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, along with batsman KL Rahul, while allrounder Ravindra Jadeja is the latest to be ruled out with a dislocated thumb.
There are fitness doubts over the Indian Test specialist, Hanuma Vihari for the Gabba Test after he suffered a grade 2 tear in his hamstring in the second innings at Sydney on Monday, with spinner Ravi Ashwin nursing a back issue and reports in Indian media saying that fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah could miss out with a side strain.
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Justin Langer explained, “I love the IPL. I look at the IPL now like I used to look at (English) county cricket for young players, you go and play county cricket and it helps their development enormously. I think it’s the same with the IPL with our players, it helps their white-ball development. But the timing of it … probably wasn’t ideal and I wonder if that’s having an impact on the injuries we are seeing for both teams throughout this summer.”
