R Ashwin fails fitness test; to miss the fourth Test

The Indian team have some bad news going into the fourth Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney as premier spin bowler R Ashwin has failed the fitness test and has been ruled out of the final match of the series.

Ashwin suffered an abdomen injury on day 4 of the Adelaide Test and in spite of that, he was asked to bowl throughout day 5 from one end as India were trying to control things from his end while the pacers attacked from the other. With this, he aggravated the injury which forced him to miss the second Test in Perth and the third Test in Melbourne.

But, Ashwin was seen bowling in the indoor nets of SCG on the New Year's day when the Indian team had an off day. Ashwin was not alone as he had trainer Shankar Basu and Physio Patrick Farhart monitoring his progress. He bowled close to one hour and still, he was not able to clear the fitness test earlier today that put him out of contention for the SCG Test.

With Ashwin out of the fourth Test, India will be tempted to go in with all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the playing XI as they needed to fill the void left by Rohit Sharma, who flew back home to be with his new-born daughter and his wife Ritika Sajdeh.

With the wicket in Sydney likely to assist the spinners, the absence of Ashwin could have a huge impact on the Indian team. However, Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has an outside chance of making it to the playing XI as the team management could be tempted to rest a pacer and bring in both Hardik and Kuldeep in the XI.