In what is terrible news for Indian cricket, senior player KL Rahul is seemingly set to be out for a while due to injury. The BCCI is also set to send him to Germany for treatment and Rahul will miss the tour of England too. The Karnataka man is down with a recurring 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 by Cricbuzz. The star batter is expected to leave India either this month or early in July.
Rahul will miss the rescheduled fifth Test against England and the six white-ball games in England, along with the two T20s in Ireland that will take place later this month. Rahul had been named vice-captain to Rohit for the England tour but the selectors will now need to pick a new candidate.
On Thursday morning, the Indian Test team flew out from Mumbai and understandably Rahul was not one of them. After the Edgbaston Test, India's white ball engagements span from July 7 and 17 with T20Is preceding the ODI series.
Rahul, who has played in 43 Tests, 42 ODIs and 56 T20Is, has not played international cricket since February this year. He, however, did play the whole season of the IPL, captaining the Lucknow Super Giants who were not part of the playoff stages.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)