In a major blow to Lucknow Super Giants, Jaydev Unadkat is ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) season. The star pacer suffered a shoulder injury as he landed awkwardly while bowling during LSG’s training session on April 30. But the left-arm pacer is expected to regain fitness in time for the World Test Championship 2023 final (WTC), which starts on June 7 at London’s The Oval.
LSG pacer stumbled while bowling his first ball in the nets on Sunday and landed on his left shoulder. It has been reported that the Saurashtra skipper traveled to Mumbai for scans and consulted with BCCI official medical staff. He is now likely to head to National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to start his rehab to regain his fitness.
Unadkat, 31, was named in India’s 15-member squad for the WTC final against Australia. He was part of India’s last two Test series against Australia and Bangladesh as he made his return to Test cricket after a gap of 12 years. Unadkat led Saurashtra to Ranji Trophy 2022 title with nine wickets in the final but didn’t get a chance to feature in any match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
Meanwhile, the Indian team travels for the WTC final without the services of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Unadkat remains the only left-arm option in a five-man pace attack for India. Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Umesh Yadav are the remaining four options for Rohit Sharma-led side.
India squad for WTC 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
