Daily Times

NEW DELHI: KL Rahul, the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, has been ruled out of the IPL, and India’s World Test Championship final in June against Australia, with a thigh injury that he sustained earlier this week. He took to Instagram to say he will need surgery and was “absolutely gutted” to not be able to play at the Oval next month. “My focus will be on my rehabilitation and recovery in the coming weeks,” Rahul’s post said. “It’s a tough call to make, but I know it’s the right one to ensure a full recovery.” Rahul tore a tendon in his right leg while chasing a ball in the second over of their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday. He had to be helped off the field at that point, and did not return until a chase of 127 got unexpectedly tense. The 31-year-old walked out to bat at No. 11 in the hopes of winning the game. But he was unable to run between the wickets, which resulted in the No. 9 Amit Mishra facing every single ball of the last over. LSG eventually lost by 18 runs and then the game got mired in the Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir controversy, which Rahul tried to mitigate by separating the two men.