Zac Crawley injury: Will Crawley play 1st Test vs India in Chennai?

Zac Crawley injury: The 23-year old English player injured his wrist to add to his team’s selection problems ahead of the first Test.

England batsman Zac Crawley has suffered a wrist injury after slipping outside the dressing room at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai yesterday.

Post the return of opening batsman Rory Burns into the squad, Crawley was expected to play a crucial role at No. 3 for England. In case he gets ruled out for the first Test, England will have another selection conundrum to solve before Friday.

Having opened the batting with Dom Sibley during the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka, Crawley had returned with scores of 9, 8, 5 and 13 as the right hand batsman was dismissed by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya on each of the four occasions.

Zac Crawley injury

Crawley, who underwent scans after slipping, is now awaiting results for the same will decide his availability for the first Test of his maiden tour of India.

“Zak Crawley did not train today at England’s practice session in Chennai. He slipped outside the dressing room yesterday [Tuesday] and has injured his right wrist. We are waiting on the results of scans and will know more tomorrow, ahead of our final practice,” read a statement from the England Cricket Board.

Crawley, who had scored his maiden Test double century against Pakistan last year, could be replaced by either of Ollie Pope or Dan Lawrence at No. 3. Among other options, England could also promote captain Joe Root or vice-captain Ben Stokes at No. 3, a move that they’ve made in the past as well.

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With speculations being rife about England contemplating to hand a Test comeback to all-rounder Moeen Ali in Chennai, the 33-year old play is a left-field option to bat at No. 3 especially after considering that he has played a similar role thrice against India previously.