- Indian assistant coach hit with ball
- He was hit during warm-ups on Day 2.
- He spent several minutes on the grass.
There were worrying scenes at the Gabba before Day 2 when an Indian assistant coach was hit on the head by a ball during a warm-up.
Nuwan Seneviratne was helping the team prepare by throwing balls when disaster struck.
As he went to catch a ball, another ball surprised him from a different direction and hit him on the side of the head.
Seneviratne fell to the grass as the Indian team rushed to his aid.
He spent several minutes on the ground before leaving the park with an ice pack on his face.
Sports journalist Tom Morris took to social media and wrote: “A member of the Indian support staff has just been hit on the head with a cricket ball while carrying out a fielding drill. He was wearing a baseball glove and either didn’t see the pitch or misjudged it.
Assistant coach Nuwan Seneviratne was helping the team warm up by throwing balls when disaster struck.
The second coach was hit in the head and spent several minutes on the ground.
‘The players rushed to check that he was okay. The medical staff are already with him. After about five minutes he stood up with an ice pack on his right cheek/jaw. Scary stuff.’
Meanwhile, play resumed at the Gabba for the third Test between Australia and India after Saturday was cancelled.
Better conditions are expected on Sunday, and while there is likely to be some juice on the early wicket, any advantage India gained by bowling first may be nullified by lunch.
In an opening session on Saturday that included a 30-minute rain interruption, Australia shone early as Usman Khawaja played with a real sense of purpose to avoid being eliminated in 19th place.
Dismissed 25 times in Test cricket since his last century at the start of the 2023 Ashes, Khawaja played with great intent and twice pushed Mohammed Siraj to the boundary.
He also clipped Jasprit Bumrah for another four at fine leg, with India’s attacking weapon sometimes guilty of bowling too straight.
Nathan McSweeney was also not with Khawaja in four when the heavy rain fell, having survived his first session at his childhood ‘home’, the Gabba.
India would have been frustrated at being left without a wicket after captain Rohit Sharma did not hesitate to send Australia into bat.
Fortunately, Seneviratne was then able to get up and leave.
Siraj, in particular, bowled too short in his first spell, before moving the ball further in the second and beating the outside edge of Khawaja’s bat.
The tourists had made two changes earlier, with seamer Akash Deep and spinner Ravindra Jadeja replacing Harshit Rana and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Jadeja’s call-up means India have used three spinners in the first three Tests, with Washington Sundar playing in Perth and Ashwin in Adelaide.
Australia’s only change from the 10-wicket win in Adelaide was the immediate return of Josh Hazlewood from a side strain.
His selection leaves Scott Boland as the unlucky man in Australian cricket, having played in just 11 of a possible 34 Tests since his magical debut in 2021.
Minimal rain is forecast for Sunday, but there is a threat of bad weather persisting for the final three days of the event.