The veteran Indian cricketer, Ajinkya Rahane will be missing competitive cricket for at least a couple of months after hurting his hamstring in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 last week. Because of the injury, Rahane will now be expected to miss India’s lone Test in England in July and the Ranji Trophy knockouts in June. Rahane left the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp earlier this week soon after scans revealed a tendon tear in his left hamstring.

Ajinkya Rahan suffered the injury while batting against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Pune on May 14. According to the recent reports of Sportstar, understands that Rahane is expected to be out of action for “eight to 10 weeks”. It comes as a blow for Rahane, who was dropped from India’s Test squad for the two-match Test series versus Sri Lanka in March.

While excluding Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, the national selectors had stressed they were not considered only for the Sri Lanka series. But the injury will make Rahane’s roadmap for a recall to the Test squad even more challenging.

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Ajinkya Rahane had a mixed campaign with the willow in the Ranji Trophy league stage in February-March. He had managed to amass 185 runs in four innings, which included a hundred, a fifty, and two ducks. But his presence was pivotal in Mumbai under Prithvi Shaw’s captaincy qualifying for the knockouts after four years.

In the IPL, Rahane was far from being at his best. He scored 133 runs in seven innings, at an average of 19, and a strike rate of 103.90. The national selectors had stated that Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were not just considered for the Sri Lanka series. However, the injury will make Rahane’s road to a Test return even more difficult.

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Rohit Sharma newly-appointed Test captain before the start of the Test series had said, “Look, Rahane and Pujara are big shoes to fill, it will never be easy for whoever comes in. Look, at what Pujara and Rahane have done for this team, you cannot put it out in words, all these years of hard work and playing 80-90 odd Tests, all those overseas Test wins. India getting to No.1 in Tests, these guys helped us in that situation and they have played a big part in that.”