Indian Premier League hurt Indians more than the Australians

New Delhi, Jan 13 : Australia coach Justin Langer’s suggestion on Wednesday that the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) held just before the big-ticket India-Australia series may have been responsible for the soft tissue injuries to players, may be true more for the Indians than the Aussies.
This is the first time an Indian team touring overseas immediately after the IPL has suffered so many injuries since the 2011 IPL when quite a few players — Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag — were laid low before the tour of England that immediately followed the T20 league.
But even in 2011, India’s pace bowling attack wasn’t completely wiped off the team sheet as is the case this time. While speedsters Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma didn’t make it to Australia as they succumbed to injuries during the IPL, fast bowler Umesh Yadav suffered a calf strain in the second Test and was ruled out of the rest of the tour. Mohammed Shami though suffered a freak injury, fracturing his forearm after being hit by Pat Cummins in the first Test.
Going into the fourth and final Test, beginning on Friday in Brisbane, there are serious doubts over the availability of Jasprit Bumrah, who has an abdominal strain whereas offf-spinner R Aswhin has a tweaked back and wouldn’t be 100 per cent fit even if he plays.
The Covid-19 situation has made things difficult for the Indians as they can’t seek replacements. It has forced them to rely on the net bowlers who they thankfully carried considering that they had a very long tour inside a bio-bubble.
“I can’t help but think that the IPL this year probably wasn’t ideal timing for anyone, certainly for such a big series like this,” said Langer on Wednesday.