KL Rahul, captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), has been ruled out of the IPL and the coming World Test Championship (WTC) final after suffering a leg injury during their encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday. Unfortunately, he tore the tendon in his right leg while chasing a ball in the second over of the game.
While this is a significant blow to Lucknow’s hopes in the IPL, KL Rahul will also miss the WTC final against Australia, which is set to begin on June 7 at the Oval. The batter turned to social media to disclose that he will have thigh surgery.
3) Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav was selected to India’s Test team for the series against Australia at home. However, he failed to make an impression and was absolutely out of sorts in the subsequent ODIs. Surya has recently recovered his form in the IPL and is back to his dominant self.
Given that the final will be played at the Oval, he might be a viable substitute for Rahul in the middle order, where he can pose a threat to the Australian bowling attack. He’s no slouch at red-ball cricket, however, and has been a domestic powerhouse.
He averages 44.45 in first-class cricket and has showed enough signs that he can adapt to long-form cricket.
2) Abhimanyu Easwaran
Uncapped Bengal opener and captain Abhimanyu Easwaran is another player who has worked hard on the local circuit and appears to be a lock for a spot in the team. Previously, he was named to India’s Test team in Chattogram for a two-match series against Bangladesh in December. He can fill in for KL Rahul as an opener.
Easwaran was also a member of India’s Test team during their tour of England last year. He has done well in domestic games and became one of the best opening players since starting in December 2013. His career first-class statistics are impressive: 6556 runs in 150 innings at a 47.85 average, with a high of 233.
1) Sarfaraz Khan
Sarfaraz Khan, a top scorer in Indian domestic games, should be part of the Indian Test team. Sarfaraz has scored 1,910 runs in 12 Ranji Trophy games over the previous two seasons and averages 136.42. In 18 innings, he had seven centuries and 11 fifties.
In terms of figures, he has scored 3505 runs at an average of 79.65 in 37 matches. He enjoys creaming centuries and has so far scored 13 tonnes. He has showed the ability to take pressure while still going after bowlers, making him an ideal guy for playing in the middle order.