Jack Leach‘s participation in the second India vs England Test in Vizag looks under serious doubt as he recovers from a knee injury.
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Leach, England’s premier spinner, suffered a knee injury in the first Test in Hyderabad which restricted his movements and allowed him to bowl only ten overs in the second innings.
Leach bowled with a swollen and heavily strapped knee on the fourth day of the Hyderabad Test which England won by 28 runs. The second Test begins in Vizag on February 2, and going by training visuals, signs don’t look promising for the left-arm spinner.
According to a BBC report, Leach was not seen bowling in training today (January 31) two days ahead of the start of the second Test. He was wearing compression tights on a swollen left leg.
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Jack Leach was not seen bowling in training two days ahead of the second Test. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)[/caption]
Speaking to BBC Sport ahead of the second Test, England opener Zak Crawley said that Leach hasn’t yet been ruled out, but if he’s unavailable to play, they have decent backups to fall back upon.
“He’s a tough cookie,” Crawley said. “You can never write him off. He had a sore knee in the last game and we’ll see how he pulls up. At the moment he’s still in contention to play.
“Obviously it would be a shame for Leachy to miss out, he’s a fantastic bowler, but we’ve got good depth. We’ve got a good spin attack and good seamers to back them up.”
England played three spinners in Hyderabad, with Shoaib Bashir, the 20-year-old off-spinner, missing out as he arrived late due to visa issues.
If Leach doesn’t turn up fit for the second Test, England can either make a straight swap with Bashir or opt for a second seamer in the form of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, or Gus Atkinson.
