NEWS
Follow UsIndian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will miss the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia as he will undergo a major knee surgery which is expected to keep him out of action for an indefinite period of time, the PTI reported on Saturday (September 3).
Jadeja, who played the first two games of the Asia Cup against Pakistan and Hong Kong, gives the team the requisite balance with his all-round abilities and the 33-year-old veteran's absence will be a big blow to Rohit Sharma's side. The left-arm spinner could easily chip in with two-three overs every match and is superb against pace with the bat in hand, which would have handy in Australia.
"Jadeja's right knee injury is pretty serious. He is supposed to undergo a major knee surgery and will be out of action for indefinite period of time. At this point, if one goes by the assessment of the NCA's medical team, one can't put a timeline on his imminent international comeback," a senior BCCI official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
It couldn't be immediately confirmed if it's a case of Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), recovery from which can take a good six months, but it can be said with some certainty that he will be out of action for close to three months.
However, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid was non-committal on Jadeja's availability for the T20 World Cup.
"Jadeja has obviously injured his knee and is obviously ruled out of the Asia Cup. He's under the care of the medical team, he's going to see the doctors, he's going to see the experts. The World Cup is a fair way away so we don't want to jump into any conclusions and rule him out or rule him in. We'll see how it goes," Dravid said ahead of the Pakistan game in Dubai.
"It's part of sport, people get injured. It's part of our job to manage them, manage how it goes, and a lot will depend on the rehab and the severity of the injury. We'll see how it goes. I don't want to rule him out or make too many comments until we have a much clearer picture and we have a better idea. Especially with the World Cup 6-7 weeks away from now."
Jadeja's knee issue has been there for a long time, and a close look at the last one year would suggest that he is converting himself more into a batting all-rounder across formats, with his left-arm spin turning into a secondary skill from the primary one.
It is believed that the pounding that his right knee takes while landing of his front foot while bowling has had its impact.
In his senior career (domestic and international), which also includes domestic first-class, List A and IPL games, Jadeja has bowled over 7000 overs in nearly 630 games across formats, for 897 scalps.
Add to it the overs bowled in the nets and the 13,000 runs scored at the senior level (domestic and international), and it gets worse. It will take a considerable amount of time and a thorough rehabilitation programme before he can make a comeback to international cricket.
(With inputs from PTI)
