Nagpur: Australia will be without their lead bowling pair of Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee as well as all-rounder James Hopes after they were ruled out of participating in the second ODI against India in Nagpur. Lee picked up a right elbow strain in the opening match of the series on Sunday while Johnson had hurt his left ankle. James Hopes, too, had gone off the field with a hamstring problem.

“Our medical staff have now decided that while both Brett Lee (right elbow) and Mitchell Johnson’s (left ankle) injuries have responded well to treatment, they will be severe enough to rule them out of contention for tomorrow’s match,” National Selection Panel Chairman Andrew Hilditch said in a Cricket Australia statement.

New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques will be flying back to India just a couple of days after returning to Australia with the victorious NSW squad, who won the inaugural Champions League T20 tournament, as cover for the injured James Hopes, who is unlikely to be fit till the Delhi ODI.

“With James Hopes’ right hamstring injury being more serious and likely to keep him out for at least the next two matches it is thought adding a standby player to the squad is a necessity,” Hilditch said. “Given the most significant injury appears to be Hopes’ hamstring we have taken this opportunity to add Moises to the squad until the completion of game four in Mohali, where we will again assess the situation before it is decided if he remains with the squad.”

Henriques will reach Delhi on Wednesday and join the Australian squad when it arrives in Delhi on Thursday.

“While the injury situation is disappointing it does provide an opportunity for Moises to join the Australian squad and become familiar in this environment,” Hilditch said. “His form for Australia A in Pakistan and for New South Wales during the recent Champions League in India has been very good and we view him as an exciting young all-rounder who will be looking to make the most of this opportunity in India.”

The Australian side had already been struggling with injuries to some key players and these injuries may prove to be a big setback for the world champions. Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Callum Ferguson and Nathan Bracken were not able to make it to this tour due to fitness issues and now three new names have been added to the list.

The Australian team has been in a grueling schedule with back to back series, starting with the Ashes, and then a 7 match ODI series against England, before moving onto the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Tagged with: Australia, Brett Lee, India, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Moises Henriques, Nagpur

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