Vijay joins lengthy IPL injury bench

The medical team of BCCI released an update on the fitness and availability of several star players who were under the injury cloud.

Ashwin, who reportedly played the four-Test series against Australia series despite sports hernia, and has been advised 6-8 weeks of rehabilitation, due to which he will miss the entire season. Vijay, on the other hand, requires surgery on his right wrist and will also undergo rehabilitation for his left shoulder, which could effectively rule him out of the entire season as well.

With already Virat Kohli set to miss the start of the IPL, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were in for further bad news as KL Rahul, the in-form wicketkeeper-batsman, is set to miss this edition of the tournament to undergo rehabilitation following a probable surgery on his left shoulder.

Kohli, the captain of the Bangalore-based franchise, who sustained a shoulder injury in the third of the four-Test series against Australia in Ranchi and subsequently sat out of the series decider in Dharamsala, will be assessed in the second week of April after undergoing rehabilitation and a call on his return to play will be taken then, the Indian board confirmed.