Everyone was taken by surprise when overnight unbeaten batsman, Shikhar Dhawan didn’t start the day with Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli head out to commence the proceedings.
Later the news from the Indian dressing room emerged that Dhawan has injured himself while practicing in nets outside the ground. The Indian team management later confirmed that playing on worn-out practice pitch had resulted in Dhawan’s injury.
In a statement, management informed that they were asking for fresh pitches for quite some time but the organisers didn’t provide the even pitch. The statement also revealed that two Indian batsmen were hit because of uneven bounce.
“Team India has been asking for fresh net practice wickets at the Gabba several times for last two days but our request has not been met. We have been asked to practice on worn out wickets with uneven bounce, because of which two of our batsmen have injured themselves today morning.”
“One of the two batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan – who was one of the overnight batsmen on the fourth morning of the Test – had a right wrist injury due to which he was unable to bat in the morning. He is been examined by our physio, who will assess his fitness in time.”
Dhawan, however, later took the field when Mitchell Johnson-led Australian pace attack demolished India’s batting line-up. He scored a fighting half-century and helped India cross 200 runs in the second innings, while making a crucial partnership with Umesh Yadav.
