Mohali: India's World Cup bound cricketer Kedar Jadhav has suffered a shoulder injury which forced him to walk off the ground during Chennai Super Kings' six-wicket defeat to Kings XI Punjab on Sunday here at IS Bindra Stadium. He was in serious discomfort.
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With the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales is just three weeks away from the kick-off Jadhav's shoulder injury caused a sense of worry for Team India.
Shedding light on the seriousness of his injury, CSK coach Stephen Fleming said:
"Kedar Jadhav's getting an x-ray and a scan tomorrow. I don't think we'll see him again in this tournament for us. He's in some discomfort. Fingers crossed that it is nothing too serious but it didn't look that good."
Nevertheless, this is also a setback for CSK as they head for playoffs.
Jadhav, who is one of the vital cogs of India's 15-man World Cup squad, was earlier got out for a duck against KXIP.
Jadhav: A utility player
The right-hand batsman, who also bowls right-arm off-break, rose to the ranks of Indian team due to his ability of finishing matches. As a middle-order batsman, he recently scored unbeaten 81 against Australia while chasing down 237 runs target in Hyderabad.
The diminutive batsman, so far, scored 1174 runs in 59 matches at an average of 43.48. He also has two centuries under his belt. Jadhav slammed his maiden ton against Zimbabwe way back in 2015 and his second hundred came against England in a winning cause in 2017.
Over the years he has not only proved himself as a key middle-order batsman but also a floater. His ability to float in the batting order and unusual bowling action make him a utility player.
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In case, his injury appears serious names of Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant and Manish Pandey will pop up as his possible replacement. Out of these three blokes, Pant and Pandey have been outstanding in the ongoing season of IPL.
Considering Pant's form and familiarity with the Indian team the wicketkeeper-batsman will be the front runner to fill the void of Jadhav.
