Injury problems haunt KL Rahul at Mohali
Opener KL Rahul doesn’t seem to be finding any reprieve from the injury problems after the Karnataka star was on Saturday ruled out of the third Test due to a forearm injury sustained during the second match. The upsetting fact here is that Rahul had just recovered from a hamstring trouble which had earlier forced him to miss out two Tests and five ODIs against New Zealand. His state mate Karun Nair benefitted from his injury and earned his Test cap today, replacing him as the opener.
“KL Rahul sustained a blow to his left forearm while fielding in Vizag. Injury got exaggerated in the nets. He feels uncomfortable while batting. BCCI medical team advised him rest to fully recover,” the official statement from the team stated.
Paceman Ishant Sharma was out of New Zealand series with Chikungunya, Rahul with a hamstring injury, Shikhar Dhawan with a thumb injury while Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked a back strain and now later Wriddhiman Saha has also encountered tendonitis issue.
The player made a quick recovery. Rahul replaced Gambhir after scoring a half-century and a century on his comeback into the Karnataka team for Ranji Trophy. Dhawan is currently finding his rhythm back playing for Delhi after recovering from thumb fracture and may be named in the squad for the next Test match in Mumbai in case Rahul doesn’t get fit in time. Update about Saha is that he would return for the 4th test in Mumbai. Parthiv Patel is acting as a replacement to him at the moment
In both cases team management waited a bit more than usual to reveal the news as both Rahul and Saha are first-choice players in their respective positions in this Indian Test team.
Skipper Virat Kohli has time and again vouched for both players’ abilities. Rahul in his nascent international career spanning 10 Tests, 3 ODIs and 5 T20 Internationals has suffered from health issues as well as injuries. He missed out on the one off Test against Bangladesh in 2015 summer due to dengue after being named in the squad.
This year, he suffered a hamstring strain during the Kanpur Test where he looked in fluent touch during both innings. The injury cost him four Tests (two each against NZ and England) before he came back at Vizag. However, the team management’s desperation to make Rahul play saw them keep the news of him having a forearm bruise completely under wraps.
Both Kohli and coach Anil Kumble made it clear that Wriddhiman firmly remains the first choice keeper in Test matches for India. The list of injury and illness for India has been pretty big since the start of the home season.
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