Of the six cricketers who had undergone fitness tests after the ODI series in Pakistan in order to certify them fit for the Indian Premier League, Shane Watson, Nathan Bracken and James Hopes have been advised rest and asked not to represent their respective sides in the Indian Premier League.
Nathan Bracken and James Hopes had been already signalled out of the tournament as they were suffering from slight niggles, where as Watson had been earlier deemed fit, but had to be withdrawn from the Rajasthan Royals because he suffered from a groin strain. The team doctor, Trefor James said about Watson, “He will return home for scans and rehabilitation and his condition will be reviewed over the coming weeks to determine his availability for the ICC World Twenty20.”
Both, Bracken and Hopes are down with knee injuries.
This means that the only Australians who will play in the tournament will be Andrew Symonds (Deccan Chargers), Brett Lee (Kings XI Punjab) and David Hussey (Kolkata Knight Riders).
Earlier, Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson had stood down from the Indian Premier League because they wanted to rest themselves before the all important, Ashes.
Symonds could play his first match in the tournament on Saturday as the Deccan Chargers take on the Kings XI Punjab.
My take: It will be wonderful to have some of the Australians featuring in the tournament, but the injuries to Shane Watson, and the others will obviously take the sheen off the returns.
What is worse is that the Rajasthan Royals who were already without Sohail Tanvir and Shaun Tait, will now have to continue playing without Watson, a return they expected. Watson was the in-form player for Pakistan, and topped the batting in the five match series against the Pakistanis.
Bangalore is another team that would have stood to gain out Bracken’s experience bowling in these conditions, but to be fair, Bracken was anything but what he usually has been in the ODIs.
The worst hit is the Kings XI Punjab, who have a string of injuries to their bowlers, and James Hopes would have just joined that ever-growing list. Luckily for them, Brett Lee and S.Sreesanth will be bowling for them from the next game onwards.