Team India captain Rohit Sharma sustained an injury to his right forearm during a practice session at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. The injury to Rohit Sharma is being viewed as a major blow to the Men in Blue ahead of their T20 World Cup semifinal against England on Thursday.

The incident took place when Rohit Sharma was batting in the nets during the optional training session and a ball from throwdown specialist, Raghu, hit him on the right forearm.

Immediately after, Rohit Sharma was seen writhing with pain before stopping his practice session. Subsequently, an ice pack was applied to his forearm.

Physical conditioning coach Paddy Upton then arrived on the field to examine the area where the ball struck him. Rohit Sharma tried to bat for a brief period again on the advice of Paddy Upton but left for the dressing room after he couldn't strike the ball with his injured arm.

While no official statement has been made about the extent of the injury, Rohit Sharma's injury, if the India skipper misses out on the semifinal against England, will be a huge setback for the 2007 champions.

 

Notably, the Nagpur-born cricket star hasn't lived up to the expectations and has only scored 89 runs in five matches in the T20 World Cup, with a solitary fifty against the Netherlands in India's second game in the tournament.

In recent days, criticism of Rohit Sharma's poor performance in the T20 World Cup has grown with former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and retired opener Aakash Chopra slamming him for not giving the team a good start against opposition sides.

“How he got out while playing the pull shot. He places it very well, score runs but also gets out. Especially when we talk about Australian grounds, the boundaries are bigger. He has a wide range of shots if he can control that particular shot. Even if he stays for 10 overs we can easily score 80-90 runs. He must play long,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.

“We all know Rohit Sharma's class and hope he gets back to his form in the last two matches and scores runs. He only started that concept to make the most of the six powerplay overs. He is getting out while trying to do that,” the legendary batter further stated.

Even former India opener Aakash Chopra had made scathing remarks about Rohit Sharma's form in the elite T20I competition Down Under.

Moreover, at least a couple of times Rohit Sharma has got out while playing his trademark pull shot, something that has worried both the Indian cricket team's fans and the pundits.

Unlike previous occasions, when the India skipper had got the measure of Australian pitches, he has been unable to judge the bounce of the deliveries and has fallen prey to short-pitched stuff.

Additionally, he has looked extremely scratchy at the top and his poor string of scores has put more pressure on the likes of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav to deliver.

“The runs did not come from Rohit Sharma's bat once again. Let's not fool ourselves. We are all Indian fans, when we talk about Babar and Temba not scoring runs, we should also say that Rohit is not making runs,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“He has scored one fifty in five matches, that too was a scratchy fifty, where a catch was dropped as well, and it was a fifty against the Netherlands. Here also you got out, trying to pull a short ball, a fielder was standing in the deep, that's a problem,” Aakash Chopra elaborated.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma made a big statement about India's semifinal against England, issuing a warning to his teammates about adapting quickly because the Three Lions like to play an aggressive brand of cricket.

“(About the clash against England) The key for us will be to adjust to the conditions as quickly as possible. We have played a game there recently but England will be a good challenge for us. They have been playing some good cricket. Two teams going at each other, it will be a great contest. We do not want to forget what has got us here, we just need to keep sticking to that and understand what each individual needs to do,” Rohit Sharma said after India's triumph over Zimbabwe on Sunday.

“It is going to be a high-pressure game. We need to play well. If we do play well there, we have a good game ahead as well. You need to adjust quickly and plan accordingly. They (fans) have been brilliant, coming and watching us. Almost everywhere we have gone, we have got full house. We expect nothing less in the semifinal. Hats off to them, on behalf of the team I want to thank them,” the Indian captain concluded.