In a major blow to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and India team, veteran cricketer Ajinkya Rahane has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and India's forthcoming England tour for the fifth Test. Rahane suffered a serious Grade 3 hamstring injury during KKR's last outing against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on May 14.
As per a reports, sources at the BCCI were quoted as saying that the 34-year-old will now head to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to begin his rehabilitation process. The 33-year-old might require over four weeks to ensure complete recovery.
The Indian team will depart for England on June 16, while the selections will take place shortly.
Rahane was roped in by KKR at his base price of Rs. 1 crore in the IPL 2022 auction, however, he had a very mix season with the willow. He started off with an impressive knock of 44 off 34 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the season opener. But since then, he failed to live up to everyone's expectation as he could only muster 133 runs in a total of seven matches. The last game that he played was against SRH where he scored a 24-ball 28.
This news followed the departure of Pat Cummins who too has been ruled out of the remainder of the IPL. The Australian Test captain is expected to return to Sydney after suffering a hip injury, as reported by cricket.com.au.
In five matches for KKR this season, Cummins picked seven wickets, including a match-winning 3/22 against the Mumbai Indians. In the earlier fixture between the sides, Cummins had racked up a 14-ball fifty to hand KKR a thrilling win over MI.
