WTC Final: Ishant Sharma Suffers Injury to Bowling Hand, Gets Three Stitches

The lanky pacer scalped three wickets in the first innings of the WTC Final against New Zealand.

New Delhi: India pacer Ishant Sharma suffered an injury to his bowling hand while stopping a ball during the World Test Championship final at the Ageas Bowl and had to get three stitches. But the pacer is expected to be fit in time for the England Tests.

Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments said the pacer suffered the injury while bowling in New Zealand’s second innings.

“Ishant hurt his bowling hand while stopping the ball and had to get three stitches. But he should be ready for the Tests against England which starts on August 4,” the source said.

Coming back to the WTC final, India skipper Virat Kohli said he would have been happier with a best-of-three final rather than just one game.

“Well, look, firstly, I’m not in absolute agreement of deciding the best Test side in the world over the course of one game, to be very honest. If it is a Test series, it has to be a test of character over three Tests, which team has the ability to come back into the series or totally blow away the other team. It can’t just be a pressure applied over two days of good cricket and then you suddenly are not a good Test side anymore. I don’t believe in that,” said Kohli while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.

“I think it has to be a hard grind and something that definitely needs to be worked on in the future to really — at the end of three matches, there’s effort, there’s ups and downs, there are situations changing throughout the course of the series, a chance to rectify the things that you’ve done wrong in the first game and then really see who’s the better side over the course of a three-match series or something will be a good measure of how things really are, so we are not too bothered by this result because we understand, as I said, as a Test side what we’ve done over the last three, four years, not just over the last 18 months but over the last three, four years. So this is not a measure of who we are as a team and the ability and the potential we have had for so many years now,” he added.

The Indian players will now get a 20-day break from the bubble life in the UK. While the cricketers will disperse on June 24, they are set to return to the bubble for the five-Test series against England around July 14.

(With ANI inputs)