Rajasthan Royals received a huge blow ahead of the Karbonn Smart Champions League 2013 title clash against Mumbai Indians on Sunday, as Brad Hodge has been ruled out of the final match due to a knee injury.
The 38-year-old middle-order batsman collided with Shane Watson in the final over of the first semi-finals against Chennai Super Kings on Friday and was elbowed out of the Sawai Mansigh Stadium, Jaipur following a knee injury. Rajasthan Royals went on to win the match by 14 runs.
Brad Hodge's absence will cause a vacuum in the batting line up of the Rajasthan Royals, as he is he is one of the key performer for the team this tournament, scoring 109 runs in three innings with a strike rate of 198. He scored a half century against Otago Volts this CLT20.
Shaun Tait has also been ruled out of the final, as he has not fully recovered from a hamstring strain suffered during training on 20 September.
The Event Technical Committee of CLT20 has approved Kusal Perera as a replacement for Brad Hodge and Sachin Baby for Shaun Tait, said a statement given by CLT20. It added that the players were officially added to the squad after approval by the committee, as Hodge suffered a Grade2-3 MCL ligament tear on his left knee, while Tait suffered a Grade 1 lateral hamstring strain.
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Ashok Menaria, Dishant Yagnik, Vikramjeet Malik, Rahul Shukla, Pravin Tambe, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Sachin Baby, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Kusal Perera
