WTC Final, IND vs AUS: Injury woes to KL Rahul, Jaydev Unadkat during IPL 2023 give Team India a scare (WATCH)
IPL 2023 saw KL Rahul and Jaydev Unadkat of the Lucknow Super Giants suffer hamstring and shoulder injuries, respectively, casting doubt over their participation in the ICC World Test Championship Final.
FollowLucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper KL Rahul and his team's veteran left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat seem to have sustained severe injuries, which could render them doubtful for the high-profile ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia at the Oval from June 7-11. Senior Team India wicketkeeper-batter Rahul sustained an injury on his right thigh during the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Monday.
A day before the game, his teammate Unadkat slipped badly while bowling at the nets, resulting in a nasty fall with the entire body weight on his left shoulder. Unadkat was in pain, and the team physio was seen putting an ice pack on the injured area. It is still unknown whether it's a dislocation and whether he must report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
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Rahul limped off the field with the help of the team physio and a teammate in the reserve. He was finding it difficult to walk and lay on the ground writhing in pain for quite some time after what seemed like a pulled thigh muscle while chasing a ball racing to the boundary.
He first held his right thigh and limped before collapsing onto the ground. The injury happened off the last ball of the second over when Faf du Plessis punched a Marcus Stoinis delivery through the extra cover region, and Rahul sprinted to save an imminent boundary. Vice-captain Krunal Pandya took charge, with Ayush Badoni coming out to open alongside Kyle Mayers.
The extent of both injuries is yet to be ascertained as he didn't come out to bat, and TV cameras showed him sitting in the dressing room. He looked in considerable pain and was seen applying some ointment to the injured area. If it is a quadriceps muscle tear and not a pull, his participation in the WTC final, where he is a wicket-keeping option, could be in jeopardy.
Replacement options: Arshdeep, Yashashvi, Kishan
If Rahul has a grade 1 or 2 quadriceps injury, he could well be out for six to eight weeks, but in that case, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid need to see what the requirement is. The Indian team hasn't made its stand-by list official for the WTC final.
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KS Bharat has always been their first-choice keeper rather than Rahul. They can bolster the batting by taking the in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has a double hundred in the Irani Cup. The other top-order option is Abhimanyu Easwaran, while the keeping option is Ishan Kishan, who has been initially dropped because Rahul is in the squad of 15.
If Unadkat sustains a dislocation, then he could be out for a good two-month period, and the only quality left-arm option available for the team management is Arshdeep Singh, who is supposed to play for English County Kent in June after the IPL gets over. The other options are right-armers Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini, but they will also be in the reckoning as Umesh Yadav (dodgy hamstring) and Shardul Thakur (unknown niggle) also don't seem to be in the best of shape.
