SKY to feature against New Zealand?

Ahead of the India and New Zealand match in the World Cup 2023, the Indian team is dealing with some injury issues. Suryakumar Yadav who was all set for his World Cup debut, suffered a blow to his right forearm. On the other hand, Ishan Kishan was bitten by a bee.

Injury concerns for India

Suryakumar Yadav who was set to fill in for Hardik Pandya in the middle order, was visibly in pain after being struck above his right wrist by the throw from Raghavendra during the practice session on Saturday evening. Rahul Dravid, the Indian head coach had already hinted at picking Suryakumar or Ishan Kishan in the absence of Hardik Pandya who is still recovering from a left ankle injury sustained in the match against Bangladesh. He is under the observation of the BCCI medical team at the National Cricket Academy.

Sky or Ishan, who to replace Hardik?

Dravid said at the press conference, “I mean it is nice to have Ishan and he’s been, like you said rightly, he’s been playing well. He is a left hander, But again, Surya has also come into some great form against Australia, as we saw played a couple of fantastic innings. Absolutely fantastic player against spin, as we know; left arm spin or off spin, or any kind of spin, for that matter. Plus, the role may be for a middle overs role, so we just have to see which one.”

Unfortunately, even Ishan Kishan was bitten by a honeybee during the session, and he had to cut short his training as well. As per the reports, the injury of Suryakumar Yadav was not serious and there was no need of x-ray. If both are unavailable which is an unlikely scenario, India will have to with a weaker batting combination.