BCCI to handle KL Rahul’s injury management, LSG skipper likely to miss few IPL games - Reports

In a major scare for Team India ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, the injury senior batter KL Rahul suffered during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 is said to be, prima facie, very serious.

Apparently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the medical team of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru are likely to make a decision on Rahul’s further participation in the IPL.

The 31-year-old suffered a hamstring injury while attempting to stop a ball during the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday, May 1 in Lucknow. He immediately left the field, grimacing in pain, and came out to bat only at the fall of the ninth wicket. LSG went on to lose the match by 18 runs, failing to chase down a target of 127.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, while Rahul is with the LSG squad, he will not feature in the team’s match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday afternoon (May 3), which will be played in Lucknow. Krunal Pandya, who captained the team after Rahul left the field during the game against RCB, is likely to continue leading the team against CSK as well.

The website quoted LSG sources as saying that Rahul and the Lucknow franchise will be guided by NCA's advice from now on. The LSG skipper’s scans will reveal the extent of Rahul's injury, but the right-handed batter is likely to miss at least the next few games of the franchise in IPL 2023.

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“Don't believe he thought he could win the game” - Simon Doull on KL Rahul

Injured LSG captain Rahul walked out to bat at No. 11 during his team's unsuccessful chase against RCB on Monday. The decision surprised many since the side was in no position to win the game.

Analyzing Rahul’s decision to come out to bat at the fall of the ninth wicket, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull opined that the run-rate scenario might have forced the decision. He told Cricbuzz:

"I am not sure if he [KL Rahul] or the team thought they could win the game when he came in at No.11. What I do believe is that the net run rate is still going to be crucial later on in the tournament. So if Amit Mishra could hit a four or two fours, or if KL could have got one four, all of a sudden they get 12 more runs than what they were on.

“It makes a little bit of a difference to that net run rate, and every little bit counts at the back end of this tournament. I don't believe that he thought for any second that he could hit five balls out of the park and win the game for them."

LSG are currently third in the IPL 2023 points table with five wins and four losses from nine games.