Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) Kedar Jadhav has been ruled out of IPL 2018. The middle-order batsman suffered a hamstring injury in CSK's opening match against Mumbai Indians on Saturday. Jadhav got multiple scans done and was subsequently sidelined.
CSK batting coach Michael Hussey said losing Jadhav was a huge blow for the team. "Losing Kedar is a big loss. He's a class, class player. He was coming back from an injury and he is injured again. It's a big hole for us to fill.
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"His hamstring scan did not come back so good. I believe it is a Grade 2 tear and he is going to be out for some period of time. We haven’t picked a replacement as yet but we will go through the process.
"He is obviously a very good player and a key player in that middle order. There are big shoes to fill for that little man I guess," Hussey added.
The Australian, however, added that CSK is not short of batting firepower. "We feel like we've got the necessary backup or depth to be able to cover it. It's certainly going to be a focus going forward. The players at the top of the order, Nos. 1-4, need to take the responsibility to try and score the bulk of the runs.
"The game against Mumbai, I thought, we did okay early but then we lost some key wickets at the end of the powerplay and leading into the next phase. That's certainly the focus of the team going forward, to play some smart cricket at the top and then try to keep some good partnership in the middle-order. We've got the players to cover it but we need to play smart," he added.
Vijay available for selection
Hussey also explained why Murali Vijay was left out of the tournament opener. "From what I understand, Murali Vijay got a bit of a knock in the first few days of his training in his ribs. He has been quite sore actually and slowly working his way back to full fitness. He has been training well though and hitting the ball nicely.
"There's always 50-50 calls that can go either way and sometimes it's just the gut feel of the captain and the coach of which way they want to go," he said.
However, the former CSK batsman confirmed that Vijay will be available for selection on Tuesday. "I don't know if he will be in the playing XI against KKR. I don't make those calls. You have to take that up with M.S. (Dhoni) or Stephen Fleming. I'm not sure at this stage. But he's certainly available to be picked," he said.
Earlier, before the tournament had started, CSK had lost the services of Mitchell Santner due to an injury and it hasn't named a replacement for the Kiwi yet.
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