SYDNEY (Australia): India was hit by more injuries when wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and spinner Ravindra Jadeja were taken for scans after being hit while batting against Australia in the third Test on Saturday.
Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith steered Australia to an commanding 197-run lead, leaving an injury-hit India with a mountain to climb after the visitors were dismissed at 244.
They came to the crease after Will Pucovski and David Warner fell early, pushing them to 103 for two at stumps and a strong position with the four-Test series locked at 1-1.
Pant took a nasty blow to the elbow in Sydney on his way to a breezy 36 in India’s first innings and needed extensive on-field treatment.
He continued batting but failed to take his place behind the stumps in Australia’s second innings, with substitute wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha putting the gloves on instead.
“Rishabh Pant was hit on the left elbow while batting in the second session on Saturday. He has been taken for scans,” the Indian cricket board tweeted.
It was a similar story for Jadeja, who took four wickets in Australia’s first innings but did not appear for their second after being hit on the left thumb.
“He has been taken for scans,” the cricket board tweeted separately, with Mayank Agarwal on the field as a sub.
Their problems piled more misery on India, who were already without injured fast bowlers Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma.
Batsman KL Rahul was ruled out of the rest of the four-Test series ahead of Sydney with a sprained left wrist, while skipper Virat Kohli is on paternity leave.
The series is locked at 1-1 after Australia won in Adelaide and India bounced back in Melbourne.
