India pacer Akash Deep was sidelined from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for at least eight weeks on Saturday owing to a stress reaction in his lower back, which dealt yet another blow to the Kolkata Knight Riders’ pace resources.
The right-arm bowler is also seriously doubtful for the one-off Test match against Afghanistan in early June due to the injury.
“Akash Deep has had stress reaction on his lower back. There has been recurrence and it might take 8-12 weeks to heal. He is not going to play the IPL and is very unlikely to be selected against Afghanistan,” PTI quoted a BCCI source as saying.
He was last seen in action during the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Jammu and Kashmir where he bowled just 13 overs in the first innings and less than seven in the second, appearing to be below full fitness level.
Since then, the 29-year-old Bengal pacer has been recovering at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He chose not to participate in the KKR preparatory camp, which got underway in Kolkata on Wednesday.
“It will take considerable time for healing, workload adaptation followed by Return To Play protocols. So conservative estimate of recovery will be around 10 weeks but it could take more time,” the board source added.
KKR’s fast-bowling strength is being further depleted with the inclusion of Akash Deep to their expanding injury list, which also includes India pacer Harshit Rana and their Rs 18-crore Sri Lankan recruit Matheesha Pathirana.
KKR will have to mostly rely on their remaining domestic options, which include Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, and a fit-again Umran Malik, because Akash Deep and Rana are out.
Rana, who is recuperating from a ligament tear in his right knee, is already out for KKR, who finished a dismal ninth in their title defence last season.
Blessing Muzarabani, a fast from Zimbabwe, was brought in by KKR to replace left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman, who had to be dropped earlier this year due to a BCCI decision.
Akash Madhwal, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, KM Asif, and Sandeep Warrier are among the IPL-experienced pacers who have participated in tryouts with the Abhishek Nayar-coached and Ajinkya Rahane-led team.
Madhwal, who attracted attention with an impressive 5/5 for the Mumbai Indians in the 2023 Eliminator, seems to be leading the field, even if the team has not yet named a replacement.
Before departing on April 25 for their IPL opener in Mumbai on April 29, Nayar stated on Friday that the management is nearing completion of a replacement.
“It (Harshit Rana’s absence) is a big blow because Harshit has been an integral part of this team for the last couple of seasons, also the championship season. Over the last year, he’s really grown as a cricketer. So we always miss Harshit Rana.”
“But having said that, over the last few days, we’ve been having looking at a few bowlers, we’ve had to evaluate with the help of our leadership group as to who fits in and who can do that role to the best of their prowess. Hopefully we’ll identify someone who we feel can make a difference,” Nayar said.
Dwayne Bravo, the team mentor, stressed that they had enough depth to handle the setbacks, so he doesn’t think it’s a concern.
“In any tournament with any team, once you lose some of the key bowling options, these are not things you plan for, but these are things you have to accept,” Bravo said on Friday.
“The good thing about Indian cricket, especially at the moment, there’s a lot of depth. There’re the likes of Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora… they are young, exciting talents. We lost some key players, but I feel comfortable to know that we have what it takes to replace those guys. From a bowling point of view, I think we will be fine,” he said.
