Jadeja to undergo knee surgery, could miss T20 World Cup

Ravindra Jadeja will have to undergo a surgery on his injured right knee, which is expected to keep him out of action for an indefinite period. India head coach Rahul Dravid, though, said* it would be too early to rule him out of the T20 World Cup, to be played in Australia in October-November.

“Jadeja has injured his knee; he is obviously ruled out of the Asia Cup,” Dravid said ahead of India’s Super 4 match against Pakistan. “He is under the care of the medical team, he is going to see the doctors, see the experts. The World Cup is still a fair bit away, and we don’t want to jump to any conclusions and rule him out or rule him in. We’ll see how it goes.

“Injuries are a part of the sport; it is part of our job to try to manage them. A lot will depend on rehab and the severity of the injury. I don’t want to rule him out or don’t want to make too many comments until we have a much clearer picture and a better idea, especially because the World Cup is six or seven weeks away from now.”

An unnamed BCCI official, meanwhile, told PTI that Jadeja’s injury was “pretty serious”. “He is supposed to undergo a major knee surgery and will be out of action for an indefinite period of time,” the official said. “At this point, if one goes by the assessment of the NCA’s medical team, one can’t put a timeline on his imminent international comeback.”

Jadeja, who played the first two games of the Asia Cup against Pakistan and Hong Kong, provides the team the requisite balance – along with Hardik Pandya – with his all-round abilities and his absence will come as a blow for Rohit Sharma’s side.

Jadeja was a key performer in both of India’s matches at the Asia Cup so far. Against Pakistan, he bowled two economical overs before being promoted to No. 4 in India’s chase of 148, specifically since he was the only left-hand batter in India’s top seven. He steered India towards victory with a 29-ball 35, and ensured that Pakistan held back left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz’s fourth over until the final over of the match. Against Hong Kong, he dismissed top-scorer Babar Hayat and only gave away 15 runs in his four overs.

This is not the first time Jadeja has been troubled by his right knee. An injury to the same joint had forced him to miss the ODI leg of India’s tour of the West Indies in July.

* This news article was updated at 3.15pm GMT on September 3 following Rahul Dravid’s statement to the press.