India pacer Akash Deep has been ruled out of the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar series due to a stiff back. The seamer only featured in the Brisbane and Melbourne Test, picking up a total of 5 wickets. India head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that the pacer will not be available for the Sydney Test which is set to commence from January 3, Friday.
“Akash Deep is out with a back issue,” India coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed during the pre-match press conference.
The 28-year-old right-arm pacer bowled a total of 87.5 overs in the series so far, and the injury could be attributed to the heavier-than-usual workload he has endured.
Akash is likely to be replaced by either Harshit Rana or Prasidh Krishna for India’s final Test of the Australia tour. While Harshit did feature in the first 2 Tests of the series that were held in Perth and Adelaide respectively, Krishna is yet to feature for the Men in Blue in the tour.
The Indian team heads into the final Test, trailing the series by 2-1. Only a win in Sydney will keep their hopes of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final alive.
In such a dire situation, the team will be counting on senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to step up and help the team in levelling the series.
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