KL Rahul ruled out of IPL 2023 and WTC final after sustaining thigh injury, issues statement

Lucknow Super Giants captain, KL Rahul, has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League tournament and India's World Test Championship final in June against Australia due to a thigh injury he sustained earlier this week. The 31-year-old will need surgery to recover from a tendon tear in his right leg, and expressed his disappointment on Instagram, saying he was "absolutely gutted" that he would miss the final with Team India.

Unfortunate blow

The injury occurred when Rahul was chasing a ball in the second over of their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday. Although he continued to bat later in the match, he was unable to run between the wickets, causing Amit Mishra to face every single ball of the last over.

Lucknow Super Giants are currently in second place on the IPL points table, with five wins from 10 games. Krunal Pandya will take over as interim captain and lead the team's push for a second straight playoff appearance.

Falling down the ladder

This injury will end Rahul's pursuit of scoring 500-plus runs for a sixth successive IPL, as he was 226 runs off the mark this season. His career has been at a crossroads lately, as he was dropped from India's Test XI after the first two Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches in February 2023 and lost his vice-captaincy.

Rahul has not played a T20I for India in almost a year, and currently only commands a spot in the 50-over team, where he also serves as the wicketkeeper. He was downgraded from Grade A to B in the BCCI's central contracts two months ago.

This is the second major injury Rahul has suffered in two years, after a sports hernia in 2022 that required surgery.

Published on: Friday, May 05, 2023, 05:34 PM IST