IPL 2023 has been a tournament plagued with injuries, and the latest victim is KL Rahul. The LSG skipper injured himself while fielding in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was taken off the field in the 2nd over itself and did not open, only walking to the crease at no.11 later in the game. It has been confirmed that he will miss the rest of the IPL due to a thigh injury. However, what comes as a bigger blow is the fact that he will not be part of the Team India squad that is to travel to England for the World Test Championship final from June 7-11.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already started considering a replacement for KL Rahul, and it is likely to be Suryakumar Yadav. According to a report by The Times of India, Yadav has been added amongst the standby players for the India squad for the WTC final at the Oval. “While it hasn’t been decided officially yet, Surya has been asked to keep his UK Visa ready,” a BCCI source told The Times of India.
The fun chat between Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. pic.twitter.com/cIZZBdJLQF
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 4, 2023
Suryakumar Yadav has played only one Test Match in his career so far. He made his debut in the Border Gavaskar Trophy vs Australia in Nagpur and managed to score just 8 runs, thus failing to impress. However, the batter has found his lost form in the IPL 2023, scoring two back-to-back fifties in two 200+ run chases in the IPL.
KL Rahul has ruled himself out of contention for both IPL 2023 and the WTC final in an Instagram post, where he said that he will be undergoing a thigh surgery to treat his injury. It is a significant setback for Team India, as Rahul was expected to play a vital role in the squad’s batting lineup.
The BCCI has already made a list of standby players for the WTC final against Australia, consisting of Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Mukesh Kumar, and Navdeep Saini. Suryakumar Yadav has been added to this list of standby players, and he could make his second Test appearance in the crucial match against New Zealand. The Indian cricket team has been plagued with injuries lately, and it remains to be seen how they will cope up with this setback.
