Hoops! Wade injures ankle while playing basketball

Consider this. Australia often boasts of having the best cricket system in place — spending heavily on a vastly experienced workforce to cultivate the game grassroots up. But when its national side leaves for its toughest overseas assignment of the year yet,they choose just one wicketkeeper in the squad. No back-up stumpers for the four-match Test tour to India. On cue,Matthew Wade fractures his cheekbone during a practice session before the second Test. The management kept Philip Hughes on stand-by,who until then has found it hard to step it up in his primary role as a top-order batsman. Wade passes the fitness test,Hughes fails twice more.

Then,the comical turns ridiculous. Australia receive a hiding in the first two Tests. There are eight days to regather before the third. The captain,Michael Clarke,goes out of his way to say that the Aussies will spend that time practicing because,“sitting on our backs won’t make us any better”.

He is found at the Taj Mahal,a few of the remaining spend their free time playing basketball in Chandigarh. Wade is one of them. He injures his ankle on Saturday. The team-management calls upon 35-year old Brad Haddin,who last played a Test in January 2012,to be ready to catch the next flight to India.

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“Wade went in for a scan this morning. We’ve sent the scans back to Australia,” said a member of the Australian team management on Sunday. “We will only get to know the results by Monday.”

If there indeed is a problem,then Haddin will have a little more than 48 hours between boarding his flight and crouching behind the stumps on Thursday. If you thought some of Australia’s on-field moves were baffling,then consider the off-field ones.