Injury blow for India | KL Rahul ruled out of Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a wrist injury

Sydney, January 5: India suffered another injury blow when wicket-keeper batsman KL Rahul was on Tuesday (January 5) ruled out of the Sydney and Brisbane Tests with a wrist injury that he sustained while batting at nets in Melbourne last Saturday.

"KL Rahul sprained his left wrist while batting in the nets at the MCG during Team India's practice session on Saturday. The wicketkeeper-batsman will not be available for the remaining two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he will need about three weeks time to recover completely and regain full strength," BCCI secretary Jay Shah informed via a media release.

"He will now return to India and head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further rehabilitation of his injury," said the release.

The absence of Rahul will make it sure that Rohit Sharma might come in place of either Mayank Agarwal or Hanuma Vihari for the Sydney Test, starting on January 7 at the SCG. Rahul too was expected to make to the 11 for the third Test to bolster the batting. However, the absence of Rahul has robbed India of an additional batting option as both Mayank and Vihari has not showed too much form with Cheteshwar Pujara too was struggling for runs.

The Rahul injury was the latest in a series of injuries that the Indian team suffered during this tour to Australia. Pacers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav too were ruled out of the series. Shami had suffered a hit on his forearm off Pat Cummins at Adelaide, resulting in a minor fracture, while Umesh limped out midway through the Melbourne Test with a calf injury.

It may be recalled that senior pacer Ishant Sharma too was ruled out of the entire series despite getting recovered from a side strain that he sustained during the IPL 2020. On top of that , India did not have the services of skipper Virat Kohli after the first Test as he has returned to India on paternity leave.