Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have been dealt a huge blow as batter Rajat Patidar has been ruled out of the IPL 2023 tournament owing to an Achilles injury he had suffered earlier. The franchise has confirmed the news on April 4, 2023.

Patidar had a breakout year for the RCB in IPL 2022 in their team’s journey till Qualifier 2.  In the huge Eliminator match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Patidar scored an unbeaten 112-run knock that helped Bangalore to bag the game by 14 runs.

However, he had picked up a heel injury before joining the RCB camp ahead of the IPL 2023 season. The MP star is currently nursing a heel injury at the NCA and is expected to be on the sidelines for long.

Earlier, RCB coach Sanjay Bangar had shown hopes of Patidar recovering in time for the second half of the tournament.

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He had said: "As far as Rajat goes, at this point he's out of our control, at the NCA he's sort of undergoing treatment in that particular academy and we are still waiting for the clarifications from him. And once we get the clarifications, our media team will certainly keep you in the loop and it might also be the case the NCA will take a very sporting call on what he does or what his future holds." 

However, now RCB themselves have confirmed that the right-handed batter will not be taking part in the IPL 2023 at all. The franchise also confirmed that they will not be asking for a replacement player for Patidar as of now.

“Unfortunately, Rajat Patidar has been ruled out of #IPL2023 due to an Achilles Heel injury. We wish Rajat a speedy recovery and will continue to support him during the process. The coaches and management have decided not to name a replacement player for Rajat just yet,” RCB tweeted.  

RCB started their IPL 2023 with a thumping win over Mumbai Indians as Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli slammed belligerent half-centuries in the 172-run chase at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.