Lucknow Super Giants will now be led by Krunal Pandya as they look to seal a place in the playoffs

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2023KL Rahul, the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, has been ruled out of the IPL, and India’s World Test Championship final in June against Australia, with a thigh injury that he sustained earlier this week. He took to Instagram to say he will need surgery and was “absolutely gutted” to not be able to play at the Oval next month.”My focus will be on my rehabilitation and recovery in the coming weeks,” Rahul’s post said. “It’s a tough call to make, but I know it’s the right one to ensure a full recovery.”Rahul tore a tendon in his right leg while chasing a ball in the second over of their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday. He had to be helped off the field at that point, and did not return until a chase of 127 got unexpectedly tense. The 31-year-old walked out to bat at No. 11 in the hopes of winning the game. But he was unable to run between the wickets, which resulted in the No. 9 Amit Mishra facing every single ball of the last over.LSG eventually lost by 18 runs and then the game got mired in the Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir controversy, which Rahul tried to mitigate by separating the two men.”As the team captain, it pains me deeply not to be able to be there during this crucial period,” he said. “But, I’m confident that the boys will rise to the occasion and give their best performance as always.”Super Giants are in second place on the IPL points table, with five wins from 10 games. Their push for a second straight playoff appearance will now be spearheaded by Krunal Pandya, who takes over the captaincy on an interim basis. He has already led the team in one game, against Chennai Super Kings, although it got washed out.This injury puts an end to Rahul’s efforts of scoring 500-plus runs for a sixth successive IPL. He is the only Indian to have even gotten as far as five, and was 226 runs off the mark this time around.Rahul’s career has recently hit a crossroads. India took away his vice-captaincy and dropped him from their Test XI after the first two Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches in February 2023. And he hasn’t played a T20I for them in almost a year. It’s only in 50-over cricket that he commands a spot in the team, where he also doubles up as their wicketkeeper. All of this was reflected in his moving down from Grade A to B when the BCCI handed out central contracts two months ago.This is the second major injury Rahul’s had in two years following a sports hernia in 2022 for which he needed surgery.”The last few days have been really hard, but I’m determined to come out on top,” his post also said. “Injuries are never easy, but I’ll give it my all as always. Thank you for all the support and good wishes.”