Lucknow Super Giants captain and India's star player KL Rahul on Monday suffered a right thigh injury when LSG locked horns against Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2023. Rahul ran to save a boundary but picked up the injury and was seen in some serious pain. Rahul was taken off the field and came out to bat at No.11 in the 19th over of the chase but did not look fit.
Notably, there are growing doubts over Rahul's injury. LSG's stand-in captain Krunal Pandya provided an update on Rahul after the match and said that the LSG opener has pulled his hip flexor. "It's such a sad thing Rahul pulled his hip flexor. I am not aware how bad it is, the medical team will assess it." It is being learnt that Rahul has undergone scans for the injury and the results of the same will be out soon.
Meanwhile, if he does not get fit in time, both LSG and India will have to ponder upon his replacement. As India went with Shubman Gill at the top of the order along with Rohit Sharma in the latter stages of the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2023, they will likely stay with the same opening combination. Therefore, India might have to think of a middle-order player if Rahul will not be fit.
Players who can replace Rahul in the WTC squad
1 - Sarfaraz Khan: Delhi Capitals batter Sarfaraz Khan can be a like-to-like replacement for KL Rahul if the latter is not fit. Sarfaraz has been knocking on the doors of the Indian team with a string of strong performances in the Indian domestic season. He smashed three tons in the recent Ranji Trophy for Mumbai. Meanwhile, Sirdharan Sharath, a member of BCCI's national selection panel had earlier said that Sarfaraz is on the team's radar.
2 - Ishan Kishan: Mumbai Indians batter Ishan Kishan can be another option for Rahul. Kishan was in India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 but did not get a game in the four-match series in India. Kishan is a hitter and can be crucial as India are already missing Rishabh Pant too. Moreover, Kishan also does wicket-keeping.
3 - Hanuma Vihari: Andhra Pradesh's Hanuma Vihari is another option to play in the middle order. Vihari has decent experience in playing Test matches for India. He has played 16 Tests for the nation. Meanwhile, Vihari also has experience of playing against Australia.
India's squad for WTC 2023 Final:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, K L Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
