Rachin Ravindra Doubtful for India Series After Shoulder Injury During Shoot

New Zealand star all-rounder Rachin Ravindra has suffered an injury to the bone in his right shoulder while taking part in an advertising shoot, raising doubts over his availability for the upcoming five-match T20I series against India.

The 24-year-old cricketer was injured in an accident while filming a driving-catch scene in Auckland last Wednesday. Reports suggest that he sustained a significant blow to his right shoulder after landing awkwardly on a mat.

Specialist doctors examined his injury on Friday and confirmed that there was no major structural damage to his shoulder. However, his return to the field will depend entirely on his rehabilitation process over the coming weeks.

New Zealand Cricket Performance Manager Mike Sandle said, “It is an extremely unfortunate incident. We are all deeply saddened for Rachin. Our primary focus now is to get him fully fit and back on the field as soon as possible. Although all safety measures were followed during the commercial activity, this was an unfortunate accident. We will review the processes for organising such events more thoroughly in the future.”

The five-match T20I series against India is scheduled to begin on October 22. New Zealand head coach Rob Walter has made it clear that, with a long Test schedule ahead, there will be no rush to bring Ravindra back.

Walter said, “We have a number of Test matches coming up in succession. So, we have no intention of rushing him back onto the field. He will be prepared through the proper rehabilitation process.”

Rachin Ravindra is one of the key pillars of New Zealand’s limited-overs setup. So far, he has played 52 T20Is for the Black Caps, scoring 759 runs and taking 26 wickets with the ball.

New Zealand are expected to announce their squad for the series against India next week.