IPL 2023: Rajat Patidar Injury Update: Royal Challengers Bangalore have been hit with a plethora of injuries this season. Among their biggest blows is the fitness of last year’s breakout star Rajat Patidar. The MP star is currently nursing a heel injury at the NCA and ruled out for the season. Follow IPL 2023 LIVE Updates on Insidesport.IN
“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 said in a statement.
The MP star had turned into one of the mainstays of the RCB last season, and his absence threatens the balance of the side. Faf du Plessis is already missing the services of Josh Hazlewood with injury, while Wanindu Hasaranga remains unavailable for the first few games.
Earlier, RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar believes Rajat Patidar will feature for the franchise at some point this season. Patidar, who scored a century in the Eliminator last year, is struggling with a heel injury.
“As far as Rajat goes, at this point he’s out of our control, at the NCA he’s sort of undergoing treatment in that particular academy and we are still waiting for the clarifications from him. And once we get the clarifications, our media team will certainly keep you in the loop and it might also be the case the NCA will take a very sporting call on what he does or what his future holds,” said Bangar on Saturday.
Without Patidar, RCB has a dearth of options at the top of the order. Virat Kohli, who mostly opened the batting last year, might have to return to No.3 to accommodate Patidar’s absence. Anuj Rawat or Finn Allen could partner Du Plessis at the top, both of who would have been benched if the entire squad was fit and available.
Should Kohli remain at the top, Mahipal Lomror, and Suyash Prabhudessai remain as options. Glenn Maxwell could also be promoted to beef up the batting.
RCB IPL 2023 Squad: Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Suyash Prabhudessai, Finn Allen, Avinash Singh, Rajan Kumar, Will Jacks, Manoj Bhandage, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, R Sonu Yadav, David Willey, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma
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