In what could be a blow for India’s World Cup squad, Kedar Jadhav is likely to miss the playoffs of the Indian Premier League season after picking up a shoulder injury in Chennai Super Kings’ last league match of the season in Mohali on Sunday.
Fielding in the deep during Kings XI Punjab’s run-chase, Jadhav was scurrying around to prevent an overthrow from Ravindra Jadeja going for four. In the process, he hurt his left shoulder when putting in a dive. He immediately walked off the field with physio Erik Simmons.
“Kedar Jadhav’s getting an x-ray and a scan [on Monday],” CSK coach Stephen Fleming said after the match. “We’re hopeful for him. I don’t think we’ll see him again in this tournament for us. So now his attention will turn to what it looks like for the World Cup. He’s in some discomfort but we just need to be accurate with our assessments tomorrow. Fingers crossed that it’s nothing too serious but it didn’t look that good.”
Jadhav is considered to be a definite starter for India at the World Cup, with his ability to play cameos in the middle order and chip in with a few overs of part-time spin proving crucial for Virat Kohli on many a occasion in the past.
India leave for the World Cup on 22 May and have to name their final squad by 23rd, in case a replacement is needed for Jadhav. Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel are the three players named as stand-bys who could replace Jadhav, should the situation arise.
The 34-year-old from Maharashtra missed the IPL season in 2018 after injuring his hamstring in the first match and is now likely to sit out during the playoffs in 2019. He has not exactly had the best of seasons, making 162 runs at an average of 18.00 and a strike rate less than 100.
In the last league match, he was dismissed for a first-ball duck by Mohammed Shami. He had not been called up to bowl during the season.