Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Rajat Patidar has been ruled out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 due to an Achilles Heel injury. RCB announced the news on April 4 via their social media handles.
“Unfortunately, Rajat Patidar has been ruled out of #IPL2023 due to an Achilles Heel injury. We wish Rajat a speedy recovery and will continue to support him during the process. The coaches and management have decided not to name a replacement player for Rajat just yet,” RCB wrote on Twitter.
Patidar was in fine form last season. Coming in as replacement, he scored 333 runs from eight innings at an average of 55.50 including one century and two half-centuries. He scored at a strike rate of 152.75. Patidar scored his maiden IPL century against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the eliminator in a losing cause.
Patidar is the latest edition of players who have been ruled out of IPL 2023 due to an injury. RCB Also, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood is expected to miss the first seven matches as he still recovering from injury which has kept him out of action in 2023 so far. Reece Topley dislocating his shoulder in RCB's campaign opener against Mumbai Indians (MI) is a big reason for worry as well. On April 3, RCB head coach Mike Hesson said that he is waiting for the scan reports of English left-arm pacer.
Earlier, RCB’s Rs 3.2 crore pick Will Jacks got ruled out of the entire season. RCB replaced him with New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell who made his IPL debut on April 2. Bracewell did the damage with the ball taking the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav.
RCB started off their season with a convincing eight-wicket win over Rohit Sharma's MI. Virat Kohli's unbeaten 82 and skipper Faf du Plessis' 43-ball 73 helped RCB chase down the target of 172 with 22 balls to spare.
RCB will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their next clash at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
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