Five players with fitness concerns ahead of Indian T20 League 2022

The Indian T20 League is just under a week away from its start. The season opener will be on the 26th of March, with the defending champions, Chennai taking on Kolkata. This season will see two new teams in the competition, which has resulted in more players in the tournament. However, there are some players are coming into the tournament with injury concerns. Here is a list of all these players.

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav has become Mumbai's one of main batters since he rejoined them in 2018. He has become their go-to player in the middle order and has done wonders for them. However, he suffered from a hairline fracture on his thumb while playing for India in the recently concluded T20 series against Sri Lanka. If he is unavailable to the team, they will face many problems as they do not have the best replacement options for him.

Deepak Chahar

Deepak Chahar suffered a major quadriceps injury when playing in the T20 series against West Indies. He looked in a lot of trouble as he limped off the field. It has been reported that he will not be available to the Chennai team for a major part of the season as he is recovering at the National Cricket Academy. He was their costliest buy of 14 crores for the 2022 season. He is a wickettaker. 

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Another player from the Chennai team, Ruturaj Gaikwad suffered some major issues in the T20 series against West Indies. He suffered from a wrist injury in one of the matches and was ruled out of the T20 series against Sri Lanka. He was the orange cap winner last year and had a major contribution to the team's victory. This time, he was retained by the franchise and was expected to give similar performances as last season. Chennai would need him at his peak fitness.

Kane Williamson

The 31-year old has been suffering from an elbow injury for a while now and missed a part of the ITL last season. He has chosen not to get operated and naturally heal his injury through physiotherapy. He is the captain of the Hyderabad team and has a huge responsibility to lead this young team. They have a few inexperienced players that would want to learn from the Kiwi player in the course of these two months. Williamson will have a challenge of managing his injury.

Maheesh Theekshana

Maheesh Theekshana suffered from a hamstring injury right before the T20 series between India and Sri Lanka. He was picked up by the Chennai team in the Indian T20 League mega auction concluded in February. He was considered to be a good buy for the team as he brings a mystery spin option to them. 

Chennai does not have many other options to replace him in the team this season. They also might wait for him to recover and not go for a replacement straight away.