Australia are sweating on the fitness of Usman Khawaja after the star opener hurt his left leg while fielding in the fourth Test against India in Ahmedabad.
Khawaja was helped off the field by the team doctor following a catching attempt gone wrong on the boundary.
The in-form left-hander was off the ground for almost two hours as India piled on 571 on day four.
Australia had to face six overs before stumps on Sunday, but No.11 Matt Kuhnemann was sent out as a nightwatchman to open with Travis Head instead of Khawaja.
An Australian team spokesperson said Khawaja’s injury was “lower leg soreness, nothing conclusive”.
When Khawaja went down, the 36-year-old appeared to grab his knee.
It would be a mighty blow for Australia if Khawaja is injured after his marathon 180 in the first innings, one of the finest knocks of his career.
After having a tough first Test against India, Khawaja has hit back to be the leading run-scorer on either team in the series with 333 at 47.57.
Australia’s hopes of levelling the series 2-2 seem doomed, with only India having an outside chance of winning the Test on the fifth and final day.
India allrounder Axar Patel said “anything can happen” when asked if his team believed they could secure an unlikely victory.
“If we get two or three wickets early tomorrow, they might play defensive under pressure,” Patel said, translated from Hindi.
“The pitch is not like it was in first three matches so we just can go and run over them.”
© AAP 2023
