KL Rahul has shocked Indian cricket as he confirmed that he will not be traveling to England for the World Test Championship 2023 final (WTC) due to injury. Lucknow Super Giants skipper suffered a thigh injury while fielding against Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 1. He returned to bat as it seemed a minor setback but later he was ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League 2023 season.
India are already missing Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant and Rahul's absence will further hammer their preparation for the summit clash against Australia starting on June 7 at London's The Oval. The wicketkeeper batter posted an Instagram message for the fans and said that he will not be available for the WTC final. Rahul also revealed that he consulted with the medical team and will be undergoing surgery shortly.
"Absolutely gutted that I won't be at the Oval next month with Team India. I'll do everything I can to get back in blue and help my country. That has always been my focus and priority," KL Rahul wrote in his Instagram post.
The 31-year-old wicketkeeper batter was named in India's 15-member squad for the WTC Final. KS Bharat remains the only designated wicketkeeper batter after Rahul's injury. So, the management is likely to name a replacement for Rahul soon. Rahul was part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 but managed to score just 38 runs from three innings and was later dropped to the bench for the last two matches.
Shubman Gill impressed with a century against Australia in the fourth Test and will be opening an innings alongside skipper Rohit Sharma. KS Bharat also struggled for the runs during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but was excellent behind the stumps. He will don the wicketkeeping gloves in the final as India clearly lack quality options at the moment.
