K.L Rahul, India’s opening batter, is set to miss the entire tour of England as he travels to Germany for treatment of a groin injury. Previously, Rahul was ruled out of India’s ongoing T20I series against South Africa on the eve of the first match in New Delhi due to a right groin injury.
“That is correct, the board is working on his fitness and he will be going to Germany soon,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah was quoted as saying on Thursday in a report. According to the report, Rahul could leave for Germany by the end of this month or in early July.
It means Rahul will miss the entire England tour, where India will play the Edgbaston Test from July 1 to 5, as well as three T20Is and as many ODIs. He was named vice-captain for the Edgbaston Test under Rohit Sharma, but the Indian selection committee will now have to name another deputy in Rahul’s place.
Previously, some key members of the Test squad, including batters Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, opener Shubman Gill, all-rounders Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja, and pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, left for England on Thursday morning after assembling in Mumbai.
According to the report, there are no plans to call a replacement for Rahul unless the team management requests it. “Mayank Agarwal would have been named to the squad in that case. The selectors will, however, have to name a vice-captain for the tour, as Rahul’s participation in any of the seven games is virtually ruled out.”
Rahul last played international cricket in February of this year, and he was most recently seen captaining Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2022, where he became the tournament’s second-highest run-getter, scoring 616 runs at an average of 51.33 and a strike rate of 135.38 in leading the IPL debutants to the playoffs.
(Inputs from IANS)