'Really Hard Decision To Make': Australia Captain Alyssa Healy Opens Up On Injury

Australia captain Alyssa Healy revealed that she ruptured her plantar fascia, due to which she was forced to sit on the sidelines during her side's loss in the Women's T20 World Cup semi-finals against South Africa. Before the semi-finals, Healy arrived in crutches for the clash against India in Sharjah in the final group stage game.

Australia hoped to get their captain back for the semi-final clash on their journey to successfully retain the title. However, it was decided not to risk Healy for the match, which Australia eventually lost by 8 wickets.

Healy's absence was confirmed at the time of the toss, and after Australia's defeat, she revealed the full extent of her injury.

"It's a bit sore," she said with heavy taping visible underneath her sock. I ruptured my plantar fascia. I completely ruptured one and partially ruptured the other. It was just a matter of function and pain and what I could handle," Healy said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"Ultimately, I probably only had one game in me and probably took the wrong risk at the end of the day. It was a really hard decision to make last night as to whether or not we were going to give it a punt. I tried to make the team decision and sat myself down instead of taking the risk," she added.

Following her latest setback, Healy's availability for the Women's Big Bash League, beginning on October 27, and India's tour of Australia kicking off in early December, remains unclear.

"I don't know yet. We'll assess that when we get back. WBBL starts next Sunday, so we'll reassess that as we go. Tonight was always going to be a real long shot, and probably what I was going to have to go through to try and play the game wasn't going to be very pretty either," Healy said while talking about her availability for the upcoming tournaments.

"It was hard to do everything I needed to do to try and get out there tonight. Ultimately, I made the team decision to sit down and give the girls who are fully fit the opportunity to go out there and do that. It is what it is, and hopefully, it's on the mend, and we can play some more cricket next week," she added.

Healy had a hard time watching her side get eliminated from the tournament and failing to defend their crown. However, she dwelled on the positives and took all the learning on offer during Australia's comprehensive defeat.

"It was hard to watch, knowing that you can't really go out there and help. But it was good to see so many positives throughout the tournament. It hasn't ended the way we wanted, but I think we've played some amazing cricket," Healy said.

"It's knockout cricket, right? If you don't quite turn up on the night and it doesn't go your way, then you're out. So, it's pretty cutthroat. We've been in similar positions before, and we've got ourselves over the line. So, it wasn't to be tonight, but we'll learn from that and get better," she remarked.