KL Rahul to miss the 2-test series against New Zealand due to hamstring injury

Over the past five months, the long stretch of play has finally made its impact on KL Rahul, who has been ruled out of the two-test series against New Zealand. The opener has suffered from a muscle strain, reports PTI, and will be replaced by Surya Kumar Yadav.

This injury will be a massive blow to India, as KL Rahul has recently been in the form of his life. It all started in the tour to England, where Rahul was opted to open the inning alongside Rohit Sharma after Shubman Gill had suffered an injury. The senior batter took the opportunity to heart and produced some great innings in challenging conditions to help his team gain some leverage over the English side in the five-match test series. Although the series was suspended until next year due to COVID-19 restrictions, India still leads the series with 2-1, and Rahul remained the second-highest scoring Indian on tour. He had 315 runs to his name in just four innings, including one century and one half-century at an average of 39.

The BCCI, too, has come out with a statement in which they said, “He (Rahul) will now undergo rehabilitation at NCA in preparation for the series against South Africa Scheduled next month.” The absence of Rahul will open up opportunities for batter like Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal, who will be making their comeback to the team after suffering Injuries.

With Suryakumar Yadav added to the squad, the team management will have a handful to think of regarding who should be allowed to bat in the middle order in the absence of Virat Kohli. Earlier it was promulgated by team management that Gill might get demoted to bat in the middle order, but with Rahul’s absence, he might take his original position in the squad, leaving the middle order open for others to fill.