BCCI names injured KL Rahul's replacement for WTC final, uncertainty prevails over Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday announced that KL Rahul has been ruled out for impending World Test Championship final against Australia next month at The Oval after incurring an injury during the ongoing IPL 2023. The selectors named Ishan Kishan as Rahul's replacement for the big final. BCCI are however yet to take a call over the injuries of Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav.

On May 1, during the IPL 2023 match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Ekana Stadium, Rahul suffered an injury to his right upper thigh while fielding following which he was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament. "After consultations with specialists, it has been decided that Rahul will undergo surgery at the earliest followed by rehab at the National Cricket Academy for the same. He is ruled out of the upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia," read the BCCI statement.

Three days before BCCI's official announcement, Rahul had already confirmed that he wouldn't be able to make it to London for the WTC final as a gutted LSG skipper posted a lengthy Instagram post a few days after his injury blow. He had mentioned: "Absolutely gutted that I won't be at the Oval next month with Team India. I'll do everything I can to get back in blue and help my country. That has always been my focus and priority. @indiancricketteam."

BCCI also gave a major update on the injuries of Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav. The LSG fast bowler had incurred a nasty injury on his bowling shoulder during the net session which he had incurred by tripping over the side rope while bowling. He has now been sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) with BCCI closely monitoring his improvement before taking a call on announcing his replacement.

"A specialist consultation has been sought and the left-arm fast bowler is currently at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru undergoing strength and rehab sessions for his shoulder. A decision on his participation in the WTC final will be taken at a later stage," the BCCI statement added.

Umesh, on the other hand, had sustained a minor left hamstring injury during Kolkata Knight Riders' match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 26. "The fast bowler is currently under the care of the KKR Medical Team and has started low-intensity bowling as part of his rehab process. The BCCI Medical Team is in regular touch with KKR Medical Team and is closely monitoring Umesh’s progress," read the update.

The selectors meanwhile also named three stand-by players for the WTC Final - Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav.

India’s squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).