Batsman KL Rahul has been ruled out of the upcoming two-match Test series between India and New Zealand. The opener will miss the series against the Black Caps due to an injury on his left thigh. Suryakumar Yadav, who was a part of India’s Test squad that travelled to England, has been named as Rahul’s replacement.
“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,” the BCCI said in a release.
“He will now undergo rehabilitation at NCA in preparation for the series against South Africa scheduled next month,” it added.
The first Test is scheduled to be played in Kanpur from Nov 25 and the second Test is slated to begin from Dec 3 in Mumbai.
Rahul was missing from the Indian team’s customary practice session, attended by almost all the players on Tuesday at the Green Park stadium.
Shubman Gill was seen opening the batting along with Mayank Agarwal during the team’s net session as Cheteshwar Pujara, the vice-captain for the series-opener, also batted.
It is understood that one among Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav will make his Test debut and bat in the middle order.
Shubhman was expected to bat in the middle order but now in the absence of Rahul, the youngster will be asked to play in his usual opening slot.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier stated that Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team in the first Test in the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli.
Kohli has been rested from the first Test and will join the team in the second Test in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma, who replaced Kohli as India’s T20I captain, is also not part of the Test series against New Zealand.
Rohit, however, made a dream start to his career as the T20I captain and led Team India to a 3-0 whitewash over New Zealand, finalists of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, in the recently-concluded T20I series.
India’s Test squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohamed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
