Gold Coast, Sep 28 Australia's vice-captain Rachael Haynes has been ruled out of the remainder of the multi-format series against India due to a hamstring injury. Rachael had suffered a right hamstring injury while fielding during the third ODI against India in Mackay on Sunday, forcing her to go off the field.
"Unfortunately, her hamstring is no good. She's devastated - obviously Test matches don't come around too often, she's a key member of our squad so our thoughts are with her at the moment," head coach Matthew Mott was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
In place of Rachael, Beth Mooney is expected to open alongside Alyssa Healy, who will take up vice-captain duties. Beth had scored an unbeaten 125 as an opener as Rachael was out of the second ODI due to an elbow injury. It is expected that Beth, who complained of soreness in hamstring, will be fit for the pink-ball Test at Metricon Stadium.
Rachael will stay with the Australia squad for the first day of the Test on Thursday. The 34-year-old Rachael will then fly back to Sydney to be with her partner and former Australia cricketer Leah Poulton, who are expecting the arrival of their first child next month.
Mott was hopeful of leg-spinner Georgia Wareham being available for the pink-ball Test against India. Like Rachael, Georgia had suffered a quadriceps injury while fielding in the second ODI and didn't feature in the third ODI.
"Georgia's ticking all the boxes for her return to play. She was very sensible around that - she felt something quite early, got treatment and has been doing everything she can to get it right. Personally, I really hope she gets through it after missing out in the last Test we played."
"She's a key member; no matter what the wicket serves up, she's a wicket-taker and she's an incredibly good thing for this team - she leads the way in the field and her batting is evolving all the time. So hopefully she gets the opportunity - she's done everything in her powers to be ready."
Australia are leading the multi-format series 4-2 against India. In the Test starting from Thursday, four points are up for grabs.
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