Sarfaraz ruled out of Irani Cup after finger injury, Ishant looks out of sorts

PTI, Feb 26, 2023, 5:07 PM IST

Sarfaraz Khan (Image credit: IANS / File)

Kolkata: Prolific Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan has sustained a left index finger injury at the Delhi Capitals camp and has been ruled out of the Irani Cup, in which he was to represent Rest of India.

Sarfaraz skipped the practice match at Eden Gardens on Sunday. The Irani Cup will start in Gwalior in two days’ time.

Owing to the injury, Sarfaraz was wearing a protective fibre cast on the finger and didn’t bat or field during the day. However, he was helping his teammates with energy drinks.

Sarfaraz’s Mumbai teammate, Prithvi Shaw, was at his blazing best during the practice game as he hit some delightful strokes all around the park in the presence of mentor Sourav Ganguly and assistant coach Praveen Amre.

Shaw, however, left the ground after the batting session and rushed to the airport to take a Bengaluru-bound flight. He is supposed to report to the NCA for a camp.

Ishant looks out of rhythm

Out of the Indian team and having hardly played domestic cricket due to injury, veteran pacer Ishant Sharma looked out of sorts during the practice game in which he bowled for both sides.

Ishant, who played only one Ranji Trophy game this season and was ruled out due to a side strain for the remainder of the season, looked a tad overweight.

He had lengthy chats with Ganguly, his former national and Kolkata Knight Riders teammate, in between deliveries.

The length of his run-up looked the same but the bustling strides before the load-up was missing, and it required a lot of effort from him to put his whole body behind the deliveries.

The pace and the skiddy nature of his deliveries off the surface was missing.

He was easily negotiated by the batters. With a month left for the IPL, Ishant will need to put in a lot of hard yards as he looks far from match ready at this point in time.

The alarming drop in pace is a worry.

Among the lesser-known players, Bengal’s Abhishek Porel looked impressive with some big shots.