Ravindra Jadeja likely to miss ICC T20 World Cup 2022; may undergo knee surgery soon

Jadeja, who played the first two games of the Asia Cup 2022 against Pakistan and Hong Kong, gives the team the requisite balance with his all-round abilities and the 33-year-old veteran’s absence will be a big blow to Rohit Sharma’s side.

“Jadeja’s right knee injury is pretty serious. He is supposed to undergo a major knee surgery and will be out of action for indefinite period of time.

“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,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.

It couldn’t be immediately confirmed if it’s a case of Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), recovery from which can take at least six months.

But it can be said with some certainty that Jadeja will be out of action for at least three months.

It is understood that Jadeja’s knee issue has been there for a long time, and a close look at last one year would suggest that he is converting himself more into a batting all-rounder across formats, with his left-arm spin turning into a secondary skill.

It is believed that the pounding that his right knee takes while landing of his front foot while bowling has had its impact.

In his senior career (domestic and international), which also includes domestic first-class, List A and IPL games, Jadeja has bowled over 7000 overs in nearly 630 games across formats, for 897 scalps.

Add to it the overs bowled in the nets and the 13,000 runs scored at the senior level (domestic and international), and it gets worse.

It will take a considerable amount of time and a thorough rehabilitation programme before he can make a comeback to international cricket.