KL Rahul to miss NZ Tests due to injury, Suryakumar Yadav named as replacement

India opener KL Rahul will miss the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand owing to a thigh injury he picked up while training before the first Test. Rahul has been in terrific form of late. He had a fantastic run in the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and performed exceptionally well in the 20-20 World Cup and the home series against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, BCCI have named Suryakumar Yadav as a replacement for KL Rahul for the Test series. Yadav has been knocking on the doors of India Test team for a while and this might be his chance to don the white jersey for India. He was part of the India squad that travelled to England for a five match series but didn't get a chance to play.

Over the last few years, Rahul has been given plenty of chances in Test format. However, somehow he has managed to make a mess of them. Given the current form, it was a golden opportunity for him to cement his place in the team.

Meanwhile, with Rahul out, India have been left with two openers in the squad. Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill in all circumstances will open for India in the Test series, with one of Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav slotting in the middle order.

The series gets underway in Kanpur on November 25, with the final Test scheduled from December 3 in Mumbai.