[WATCH] Ravindra Jadeja undergoing speedy recovery at NCA after knee injury rules him out of T20 World Cup
Star Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is undergoing a speedy recovery at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru after a knee injury ruled him out of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
In a video uploaded to his Instagram account, the Saurashtra all-rounder could be seen jogging inside a gym.
The left-arm bowler injured his right knee during the Asia Cup 2022 after games against Pakistan and Hong Kong. He underwent successful knee surgery and is now rehabilitating. In an Instagram post, he wrote:
"The surgery was successful. There are many people to thank for their support and involvement - BCCI, my teammates, support staff, physios, doctors and the fans. I will start my rehab soon and try to get back to soon as I can. Thank you to everyone for your kind wishes."
Jadeja’s absence was a big blow for the Men in Blue ahead of the showpiece T20 event in Australia. India will definitely miss his contributions with bat, ball and in the field.
“Jadeja would have added value”- Venkatesh Prasad on India’s T20 World Cup squad
Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad has said that India’s squad for the T20 World Cup looks balanced, but Ravindra Jadeja would have added more strength had he been fit for the tournament.
Speaking to ANI, he said:
"It is a balanced squad, really good one. It has amazing batters and all-rounders. Jadeja has missed out but would have added more value.”
It is worth mentioning that all-rounder Axar Patel has made the most of his opportunities after replacing Jadeja. He has already picked up 18 wickets in 17 T20Is this year. The southpaw is also a handy batter. He is expected to fill the void created by Jadeja's absence at the T20 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma-led India will play arch-rivals Pakistan in Melbourne on Sunday (October 23) to start their T20 World Cup. India are joined by Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh in the same group for the tournament. A couple of qualifiers will join the same group.
India squad for T20WC: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.
Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur.