RCB lose Adam Milne to hamstring injury for rest of IPL 9
New Zealand speedster Adam Milne is the latest to join the list of players who have had to cut short their role in the IPL 9 season due to injury. Milne was not part of the team’s training drills on Friday, and it is understood that he has left India with a Grade 2 hamstring tear in his right thigh.
Milne was played in RCB’s first match of the campaign, but his figures of 1/43 against Sunrisers Hyderabad were not good enough for him to be given another game. However, he was one of the most impressive fast bowlers in the 2016 World T20.
The 24-year-old’s blooming cricket career has been too often ravaged by injuries. He had missed the whole of the 2015 IPL after having failed to recover from a heel injury picked up in the ODI World Cup held earlier that year.
After Mitchell Starc and Samuel Badree, RCB have now lost the services of a third overseas bowler. They are yet to name any replacements apart from Chris Jordan, who forms the seam attack for RCB alongside Shane Watson, Kane Richardson, David Wiese and the Indian contingent.
It is to be seen whether they name any other foreign replacements in place of Milne.
Milne was acquired by RCB for 70 lakhs last season, but he has managed to play only one IPL match till now, going for 43 runs in that match. There has been no sign of the demonic pace for which he has made a name for himself in international cricket already.
He is considered to be the first genuinely quick fast bowler after Shane Bond to have been produced from New Zealand. Milne’s raw pace puts him in the elite list of bowlers who have crossed the 150 km/h mark on the speed gun, and just his speed manages to rattle many batsmen. However, pace is not Milne’s only asset, he has shown an uncanny ability to hit the blockhole at great speeds as well.