Suryakumar Yadav ruled out of Afghanistan T20i series due to injury: India’s luck has not been good at all this year as another star player has been ruled out due an injury. Suryakumar Yadav- The world’s number 1 T20i batter has been ruled out for 7 weeks due to a Grade-2 tear in his ankle.
According to a report from Indian Express, Surya had a scan last week when he returned to India following the conclusion of the 3-match T20i series against South Africa and according to the reports, he will miss cricketing action for about 7 weeks including the 3 match T20i series against Afghanistan.
SKY is expected to return to action by the 1st week of February and he will be fit before IPL 2024. A BCCI Official said, ”Surya will take some time to recover. He will be required to visit the National Cricket Academy for rehabilitation. He will undoubtedly miss the Afghanistan series.”
Surya injured his ankle while attempting to stop the ball on the field during the 3rd T20i against The Proteas. When asked about his injuries following India’s victory in the third T20I in Johannesburg, Surya stated, “I am fine. “I’m able to walk, it’s not serious.”
In the absence of the injured Hardik Pandya, SKY was handling the captaincy duties of Team India and under his leadership, The Men in Blue defeated Australia 4-1 in the 5 match T20i series while the series against South Africa ended in a tie both India and the Proteas managing to win 1-1 game each.
Suryakumar had been in excellent form since his comeback to T20Is following the conclusion of the ODI World Cup. After Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, he became the third Indian hitter to reach over 2000 runs in the shortest format of the game. His century against South Africa at the Wanderers tied him for most centuries in 20-20 Internationals with Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell.
Suryakumar Yadav was expected to lead the Indian team in the upcoming 3-match T20i series against Afghanistan but since he is injured, BCCI will have to hand the leadership duties to someone else. The series against Afghanistan is also India’s last T20i series before the T20 World Cup so players will have to give their best against Afghanistan and perform well in IPL 2024 if they want to cement their spots in India’s roster for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
It would be interesting to see who will replace Surya in the playing 11 following his injury. Shreyas Iyer might become the captain of India in the 3-match T20i series against Afghanistan since he was the vice-captain in the series against Australia.
Schedule for the 3 T20I’s vs Afghanistan
1st T20i, 11th January, Mohali
2nd T20i, 14th January, Indore
3rd T20i, 17th January, Bengaluru
For more information, check out the official website of ICC