- Sunday, May 05, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
India received another injury blow on the eve of the second and concluding Test match against Bangladesh in Mirpur as their stand-in captain KL Rahul took a blow to his hand while batting in the nets.
Vikram Rathour, the visitors’ batting coach, said on Wednesday (21) that the ace opener’s injury was not serious but stopped short of confirming whether the 30-year-old would play the game.
“It doesn’t [look serious],” Rathour said in a pre-match press conference. “He seems to be fine. Hopefully he’ll be okay. The doctors are looking at it, but hopefully he’ll be okay.”
It was Rathour who was giving throwdowns to Rahul when he injured his hand towards the end of the nets session. The cricketer was seen rubbing the area where he got hit and the team doctor attended him.
Rahul, who led India to a 188-run win in the first Test in Chittagong, is leading the side in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma who has been ruled out of the Test series with a thumb injury that he received during the one-day international (ODI) series preceding the Tests.
If Rahul, a veteran of 44 Tests, becomes unavailable for the second Test, then vice captain Cheteshwar Pujara will take over the reins. In terms of batting, Rahul’s place could go to debutant Abhimanyu Easwaran, who initially came to the squad as Sharma’s standby.
The blow to Rahul’s hand is the latest in a series of injuries that India have suffered in recent times.
Ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah has remained out of action with a stress fracture of the back for a long time, while as many as seven players were ruled out of the ODI series at various points — including ace Test players such as Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami.
India lost that ODI series 1-2 but are leading the Test series that could do them a world of good in the World Test Championship.
