 | « Back to article | Print this article |
England's spin-bowling coach, Jeetan Patel, revealed that left-arm spinner Jack Leach aggravated his knee injury during the second day of the first Test against India on Friday in Hyderabad.
Leach, who is the most experienced spinner among the four, injured his knee while trying to save a boundary on day one. He aggravated his injury on the morning of the second day.
As a result, Leach bowled just 16 overs out of 87, with a maximum of four overs in a spell, and also left the field to receive treatment.
"He banged his knee last night, the first dive down at fine leg. Then he banged it again today, and it's giving him a little gyp, to be honest. You noticed in the outfield he was a little sluggish trying to get to balls, but he stuck at it, and I thought he actually bowled really, really well considering," Jeetan said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"It must be pretty serious, or serious for him anyway, because the reality is he wouldn't shirk that responsibility. It is sore enough. You watch him in the outfield, and I don't think it's a graze. For him to come back and keep bowling the overs he did... I believe he'll be back in the fourth innings," Jeetan stated.
"That's what Jack does for this team; he'll always put in. But it's a bit of a shame from where he's come [recovering from a stress fracture of the back last summer] to dive on one at fine leg, and all of a sudden you're hobbling around. He'll be back. He's one of the strongest guys in the team. We've had to share the load, and I thought the guys did really well," Jeetan added.