KL Rahul: The Indian opening batter has been ruled out of the upcoming first Test between India and New Zealand at the Green Park.
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With opening batter Lokesh Rahul getting ruled out, India have received a massive blow before the start of their imminent first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur from November 25.
Rahul, who was India’s second-highest run-scorer in their last Test series in England scoring 315 runs including a century and a half-century, has been ruled out of this two-match series due to a muscle strain on his left thigh.
“Team India batsman Mr. KL Rahul has sustained a muscle strain on his left thigh and has been ruled out of the upcoming 2-match Paytm Test series against New Zealand,” BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) said in an official statement. It is noteworthy that reports around Rahul’s fitness were already floating after his absence from India’s training session at the Green Park today.
Readers must also note that Rahul was the only Indian multi-format player to play this series in spite of being on the road without getting a break since June this year.
Who will replace KL Rahul in Kanpur Test?
With Rohit Sharma also resting for this series, India will take the field without their in-form opening batters on Thursday. Uncapped batter Suryakumar Yadav, who was dropped from the squad despite being part of it in England, had joined the Test squad in Kanpur yesterday.
It was in their official statement today that BCCI officially included Yadav as Rahul’s replacement for New Zealand Tests.
Rahul’s absence is most likely to once again promote batter Shubman Gill at the top of order after there were talks of him slated to be given a chance in the middle-order. Assuming that India opt for five specialist batters and a wicket-keeper in the first Test, one spot still needs to be filled.
Shreyas Iyer, who is yet to make his Test debut just like his Mumbai teammate Yadav, appears to be a front-runner as far as replacing Rahul in the Playing XI is concerned. In 54 first-class matches, Iyer has scored 4,592 runs at an average of 52.18 including 12 centuries. On the other hand, Yadav’s 5,326 first-class runs have come at 44.01 including 14 centuries in 77 matches.
India squad for New Zealand Tests – Ajinkya Rahane (c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vc), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav.
NOTE: Virat Kohli will return as captain for the second Test in Mumbai.
