Australian young opener Will Pucovski has been hit on the helmet yet again, this time against India A in the first practice game, through a bouncer from young pacer Kartik Tyagi. Pucovski has been in great form of late and came into the Australian Test squad on the back of two back-to-back double-centuries in the Sheffield Shield.
Senior batsman David Warner was ruled out of the first Test against India at Adelaide as he was suffering from a groin injury that he sustained during fielding in the second ODI against India. Joe Burns, another Australian opener, was under-fire as he could not seem to get a break from a poor run of form. This meant that young Will Pucovski was surely in line to make his Test debut for Australia.
Watch Will Pucovski getting hit on the helmet in the video below:
Fingers crossed for Will Pucovksi, who’s retired hurt after this nasty blow to the helmet.
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This is the ninth time Will Pucovski has suffered from a concussion in his career. He was batting well on 23* in his second innings when Kartik Tyagi’s bouncer unsettled him. Will Pucovski was down on his knees for a while before he was taken off the field. This has all but ruled him out of the first Test against India at Adelaide. Victoria opener Marcus Harris has been named as his replacement in the squad. 37-year-old Shaun Marsh, who has had a brilliant domestic season, is also in line to make his comeback in Test cricket as an opener.
Australia need to sort out their top-order conundrum in time before the first Test at Adelaide begins. While Will Pucovski’s absence will be a blow to them as he was in great form, Australia will have to move on and get their act together sooner rather than later. The first Test is set to be a Day-Night encounter and both teasms will be itching to get off to a winning start to the series.
