Setback for India: Prithvi Shaw out of first Test with ankle injury
Sydney, Nov 30: Indian opener Prithvi Shaw was Friday ruled out of the first Test against Australia after suffering an ankle injury during the ongoing tour game against Cricket Australia XI here.
His injury is a massive setback for the visitors as the 19-year-old was expected to open in the first Test beginning December 6 at Adelaide.
With Shaw unavailable, K L Rahul and Murali Vijay will be India's openers in the first Test. The BCCI did not name any replacement for the Mumbai teenager.
"Opening batsman Prithvi Shaw suffered a left ankle injury while attempting a catch at the boundary ropes in the tour game against CA XI at The Sydney Cricket Ground," said the BCCI in a statement.
"Shaw underwent scans this morning and the reports revealed a lateral ligament injury. Shaw will be unavailable for the first Test against Australia. He will undergo an intensive rehabilitation program to hasten the recovery and be available for selection at the earliest," it added.
Shaw picked up the injury in the 15th over of Cricket Australia XI's innings, when Max Bryant latched on to Ravichandran Ashwin's delivery and hit him for a six at mid wicket.
Shaw managed to get under the ball and catch it, but spilled the chance while tumbling over the ropes. In the process, he injured his ankle.
Shaw was visibly in pain and didn't get up immediately. He was carried off the field by two members of the Indian support staff without putting any further pressure on his ankle.
Shaw had scored a hundred on Test debut in the home series against the West Indies last month, raising expectations from the batting sensation ahead of the Australia tour.
The series against Australia will feature four Test matches.
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Gulmarg terror attack: Two soldiers succumb to injuries, toll rises to four
Srinagar (PTI): Two soldiers who were critically wounded in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll in the ambush to four.
Two Army porters died on Thursday while another porter and a soldier were injured.
Terrorists attacked a vehicle of the force six kilometres from tourist hotspot Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, officials said on Thursday.
They had said the terrorists opened fire on the Army vehicle in the Bota Pathri area in the evening when it was headed for the Nagin post in the Afrawat range.
Confirming the deaths of the two porters, the officials had said the condition of two of the injured soldiers was critical.
They had said the soldiers in the vehicle opened retaliatory fire when they came under attack.
The area is completely dominated by the Army and there were reports recently that a terrorist group had infiltrated during early summer and taken shelter in the higher reaches of the Afrawat range, they said.
The Bota Pathri area was recently opened to tourists.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the recent spate of attacks in the Valley was a matter of serious concern.
"Very unfortunate news about the attack on the Army vehicles in the Bota Pathri area of north Kashmir, which has resulted in some casualties and injuries. This recent spate of attacks in Kashmir is a matter of serious concern," he said in a post on X.
"I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and send my condolences to the loved ones of the people who lost their lives. I also pray that the injured make a complete and swift recovery," he added.
Former chief minister and People's Democratic Party supremo Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the attack.
The BJP's Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina, meanwhile, condemned the attack and blamed Pakistan for trying to destabilise peace and tranquillity in the Union Territory.
The attack came amid a spike in terror incidents in the Valley.
In another deadly attack on Sunday, six non-local labourers and a local doctor were killed when terrorists fired indiscriminately upon them at the Z-Morh tunnel construction site in the Gagangir area of central Kashmir's Ganderbal district.
Before that, a labourer from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Shopian district on October 18.
Earlier on Thursday, terrorists shot at and injured a labourer from Uttar Pradesh in the Tral area of Pulwama district.
