KL Rahul will be missed the test series against New Zealand due to a muscle injury while Former Indian Player Wasim Jaffer feels Rahul’s injury is a massive blow for team India.
Indian opener KL Rahul has been ruled out of the two upcoming test match series against New Zealand due to a muscle strain on his left thigh. Suryakumar Yadav will be part of the squad as a replacement for Rahul.
Rohit Sharma had already dropped from this series and Indian team regular skipper Virat Kohli would stay for the first While KL Rahul will also be a massive setback for the Indian team. Kohli will join the Indian team in the second test but Rohit will not be available to the team for the entire series.
Speaking on the eve of the first test, Jaffaer highlighted the importance of Rahul not just in Test crickets but across formats.
“It’s a big blow for Team India as he (KL Rahul) has been in fine form. In the last series that we played in England; he had performed exceptionally well. India played so well against England and the credit largely goes to the partnerships between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul,”
Jaffer said during an interaction on ESPNCricinfo.
“In white-ball cricket, there’s no doubt that he is one of the best at the moment. We all know that he has the potential of playing red-ball cricket as well but he has not been consistent.
“But the way he played against England; I think it’s a massive blow for him (to miss the New Zealand series).
“However, there are players like Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal, who also haven’t played much cricket. Shubman got injured ahead of the Test series in England, so he’ll be raging to perform well,”
he added.
Ajinkya Rahane will lead the Indian side in the first test due to the unavailability of regular skipper Virat Kohli. The first Test game will be played on November 25, 2021, in Kanpur.
Black Caps will also welcome back their Captain Kane Williamson who had also missed the T20 series and will now be featured in the test series.
