Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Dhawan cancelled hospital trip to resume his innings

December 20, 2014 17:02 IST

‘Shikhar was not 100 per cent fit to bat so we could only give five to 10 minutes notice to Virat’

‘That kind of scenario can create a bit of unrest’

Dhawan was forced to cancel a trip to hospital for X-Rays on the injury and returned to the middle to resume his innings

Shikhar Dhawan of India walks off the field after being dismissed by Nathan Lyon of Australia

Shikhar Dhawan of India walks off the field after being dismissed by Nathan Lyon of Australia. Photograph: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said confusion over opener Shikhar Dhawan's injury had unsettled the dressing room in the crucial first hour of play on the fourth morning of the second Test against Australia on Saturday.

Scorecard

Johnson, Smith lift Australia to victory in Brisbane

Dhoni blames 'unrest in dressing room' for India's batting collapse

PHOTOS: Batsmen fail as India crash to four-wicket defeat in Brisbane Test

The tourists never really recovered after losing four second innings wickets in the opening half an hour in Brisbane and went down by four wickets in the second Test to trail 2-0 in the four-match series.

The India team issued a statement complaining about the uneven bounce on the practice pitches in the Gabba nets after Dhawan and Virat Kohli were injured warming up on Saturday.

Dhoni said he had aborted his own net session because of the conditions but said he was unaware of the extent of the injury to Dhawan's right wrist, which ultimately forced India to send Kohli out to replace him.

"It was quite late when we got back and saw Shikhar was not 100 per cent fit to bat so we could only give five to 10 minutes notice to Virat," Dhoni said.

"So that was something we could have handled better."

Shikhar Dhawan of India talks to Australian players

Shikhar Dhawan of India talks to Australian players. Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Kohli, who stood in for the injured Dhoni as skipper for the first Test defeat in Adelaide, looked less than comfortable taking to the field and scored one run off 11 balls before becoming the first of paceman Mitchell Johnson's four victims.

"That kind of scenario can create a bit of unrest, not like a typhoon coming sort of unrest, but the calmness of the dressing room goes for a toss," Dhoni added.

"It was a bit late to verbally resolve the situation, what we needed was some kind of partnership to go for 25 minutes and it would have gone back to normal."

As the Indian wickets tumbled, Dhawan was forced to cancel a trip to hospital for X-Rays on the injury and returned to the middle to resume his innings, scoring a team-high 81.

India's dissatisfaction with the Gabba nets was clear from the statement.

"Indian team has been asking for the fresh net practice wickets several times for last two days which not been provided instead of that, they have asked to practice on worn out wickets which has uneven bounce," it read.

Queensland Cricket later tweeted, "Australians say no problems with them and curator says they mirror exact state of the Test pitch in middle".

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.