Ravindra Suffers Facial Laceration at Bay Oval
New Zealand’s rising star Rachin Ravindra has been sidelined from the upcoming Chappell-Hadlee T20I series against Australia following a serious training mishap. During a fielding drill at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, Ravindra collided with the boundary boards, sustaining a major cut to his upper lip and nose.
Although he cleared the initial concussion protocols, the injury required specialist stitching, forcing team management to send him home for recovery.
Head coach Rob Walter expressed his disappointment, stating:
“𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚.”
Neesham Called as Replacement, New Zealand Face Injury Crisis
Allrounder Jimmy Neesham has been drafted in as Ravindra’s replacement. Neesham last featured in New Zealand’s T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe, where he played a single game.
Walter added:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔’ 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.”
Ravindra’s absence comes at a crucial time as he has been in strong T20I form this year, scoring 69, 30, 3, 63, and 47 in his last five innings.
However, his injury further deepens New Zealand’s selection woes. They are already without Mitchell Santner (abdominal), Glenn Phillips (groin), Finn Allen (foot), Adam Milne (ankle), Lockie Ferguson (hamstring), Will O’Rourke (back), and Kane Williamson (unavailable).
With three T20Is against Australia scheduled across just four days, the Black Caps will now rely on Neesham and possibly top-order batter Tim Robinson to fill the gaps.
Also Read: Alzarri Joseph Ruled Out of India Test Series Due to Back Injury
