Reports | Mohammad Shami ruled out of rest of Australia tour with fractured arm

India’s horror day in Adelaide has gone from bad to worse as reports have emerged that Mohammad Shami has been diagnosed with a fractured arm. Shami, who did not pick up a wicket with the ball in the first innings, was struck brutally on the right arm in the afternoon of Day 3 by a Pat Cummins rocket, after which he instantly dropped his bat in pain. With India on 36/9, the physios attended to Shami in the hope of getting him in shape to bat, but the nature of the impact forced the 30-year-old to walk off the field retired hurt.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli revealed post match that the side were sweating on Shami’s scan results, and it is now being reported by renowned journalist Boria Majumdar that the speedster has a fractured arm. The injury is a telling blow to India, as it could potentially rule Shami out of the rest of the tour.

“Damning news coming out of Australia:  @MdShami11  has a fracture so clearly he won’t be there for India for a while. Can’t be a worse day.  @IndiaToday @SportsTodayofc  Scans show a fracture,” Boria tweeted earlier today. 

With Ishant Sharma already not taking part in the series, team India rest their hopes on Shami and Bumrah, and now the injury to the former is a punch in the gut to the visitors. The BCCI are yet to confirm the news, but in the case of Shami being ruled out, India have Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan and young Kartik Tyagi as standby options who could replace the Bengal speedster in the squad.