Smith out with wrist injury
Rising Pune Supergiants' injury woes refuses to die down as Australian captain Steven Smith became their latest casualty when he was ruled ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing Indian Premier league on Monday because of a wrist problem.
Smith's pull out was confirmed by Cricket Australia Sports Science and Sports Medicine Manager Alex Kountouris, who said the right-handed batsman had been struggling with pain in his right wrist for the last week.
"We have been working with his IPl franchise Pune to monitor this and unfortunately it has not resolved," Kountouris said in a statement from Australia.
"As such, he will return home from India for further assessment and treatment ahead of the tour of the West Indies." The CA medical official stressed that the pull out decision was taken as a precautionary measure and the injury did not appear to be serious.
KXIP’s Marsh out with back injury
left-handed opener Shaun Marsh on Monday joined the long list of Australian cricketers, who all have pulled out of IPl.
The 32-year-old veteran is suffering from a back injury and will not take any further part for Kings XI Punjab in the cash-rich league.
According to Cricket Australia's official website, Marsh has been carrying a niggle since April 19 game against Kolkata Knight Riders in which he scored 56.
"Unlike brother Mitchell and Smith, Marsh is not part of Australia's squad for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. If selected, his next international assignment will be Australia's tour of Sri lanka in July and August," the CA website stated.
Injury hit RPS call up Bailey
ARising Pune Supergiants on Monday called Australia batsman George Bailey as the replacement for Faf du Plessis.
"We lost four crucial players, but we are looking ahead," RPS chief executive Raghu Iyer said.
"Bailey has tremendous experience and had a very successful season before last. He can contribute to the leadership group. Smith's (injury news) been a bummer. He was just coming into his own and this happened.
"It is a challenging time. Before we could settle down we lost the core group of players around whom you build a team," he added. Agencies