KL Rahul ruled out of NZ Tests due to injury, Suryakumar Yadav named as replacement
KL Rahul (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
Ahead of the first Test against New Zealand, India have been dealt with a massive blow as opener KL Rahul has been ruled out of the series owing to a thigh injury. Rahul was all set to open for India but the untimely injury has cut short his stay with the team.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav has been added to the India squad as a replacement for KL Rahul. Injury to Rahul means that Mayank Agarwal and Subhman Gill will open for India in Kanpur, while one of Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer will play in the middle order.
The injury to Rahul is a massive blow for India who are already without the services of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Sharma has been rested for the series, while Kohli will only be available for the second Test.
Rahul was coming into the series after a stellar run in white-ball cricket. He had a magnificent run in the second leg of IPL before carrying forward the form into the 20-20 World Cup and the T20I series against New Zealand. This was a golden opportunity for him to cement his place in the team.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav has been rewarded for his brilliant run in domestic cricket and in IPL. The batter has featured in 77 FC matches, scoring 5,356 runs at an average of 44, including 14 hundreds and 26 fifties in an 11-year long career.
