England spinner Jack Leach will undergo surgery for the knee injury he suffered during the Test series against India. He said the swelling he has in his left knee won’t go away.
Jack Leach was one of the unfortunate names of the England team that had to abandon the test series against India midway and travel back home. The spinner injured his knee while playing during the first day of the Hyderabad Test, which was also the first game of the series.
Despite being injured, Jack Leach gave his best for the team and provided the ball. Although the discomfort was visible, he pitched well for the team and helped them win the first game of the series. He bowled 36 overs in the game with strong strapping and also removed Shreyas Iyer.
Jack Leach was rested for the second Test in Vizag and was expected to be fit when the third game began in Rajkot. However, his injury was much worse than expected as he was deemed unfit to play any further matches and he was ruled out of the entire series against India.
Jack Leach revealed that he will have surgery on his knee as there is still some swelling. He, while calling his injury unfortunate, explained the nature of his injury. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, he explained:
“I’m going to have surgery to remove the rest of the swelling because it doesn’t move. It was quite unfortunate. It was the second ball of the first innings in the field, so I played the whole game with this knee problem.”
I need to have the operation and then I hope to be able to play cricket again – Jack Leach
Jack Leach, who returned from a long-term injury during the India series following a back injury in Ashes 2023, said that after the operation he wants to return to playing cricket as soon as possible. He expressed his desire to play for a long time. He added:
“Obviously I hit him a few times during that game and that created a long recovery period. I need to have the operation and then I hope to be able to play cricket again. “I would love to get back to playing cricket and get a bit of rhythm back and I hope that can happen again once I get this sorted.”
In the absence of Jack Leach, English players like Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed have done an excellent job for the team. The series between India and England favors the hosts 2-1, but the visitors look favorites to win the ongoing fourth match. They have asserted their authority in the game as in the first innings they put 353 runs on the board, thanks to Joe Root. After that, with the ball, they reduced India to 177/6.