Australia's Matthew Renshaw returned to the field after undergoing scans after sustaining a knee injury during the warm-up session ahead of the second day in the ongoing first Test against India on Friday. The 26-year-old returned to the field in the afternoon after passing a fitness test.
Renshaw has so far played 12 Tests and returned to the national setup for the third Test against South Africa at SCG in January. After that, he was retained in the team for the Border-Gavaskar series. The middle-order batsman was trapped leg-before for a first-ball duck as the visitors slumped to 177 in the first innings on Thursday.
Team Australia would want to see the return of all-rounder Cameron Green and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc who suffered finger injuries and were out from the Playing XI for the second Test.
Earlier, many eyebrows were raised at Australia's decision of selecting their playing XI, as Renshaw ahead of Travis Head. The decision was criticised again when Renshaw left the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur for X-rays on his right knee and Ashton Agar came on as his substitute.
Renshaw’s unfortunate injury record
Renshaw has an unfortunate track record of injury and illness in the Australian Test side. He was ruled out of the 2017 SCG Test against Pakistan after being struck in the helmet while fielding at short leg. A couple of months later, he was forced to retire hurt during the first Test against India in Pune due to a stomach bug.
The following year, Renshaw was ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates after suffering another concussion scare during a warm-up match in Dubai. Then, after waiting nearly five years for his next opportunity in the Test side, Renshaw tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of day one of the New Year’s Test against South Africa.
