"His injury seems as mysterious as Varun Chakravarthy's balls" - Indian fans express their doubts over the authenticity of Ajinkya Rahane's injury

Senior players Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ishant Sharma were ruled out of the the second Test between India and New Zealand due to injury concerns. Rahane was captain in the previous match as regular skipper Virat Kohli skipped the game.

With Kohli returning to playing XI in the second Test, the management had to take a tough call to drop one of the batters to accommodate the skipper. Ajinkya Rahane's position has been under heavy scrutiny as he has been highly inconsistent over the past few years. Rahane underperformed in the first Test against New Zealand as well.

Ahead of the second Test, calls for dropping Rahane came in from all corners. Fans and critics have long been fed up with team management persisting with Team India's vice-captain despite not receiving the expected returns.

Due to all this, it looked like Rahane would be dropped for Kohli in the playing XI for the second Test. However, fans were in for a surprise this morning after learning that Rahane will miss the second Test due to a hamstring injury.

They were skeptical about the issue and felt that the BCCI covered up Rahane's snub by citing injury concerns. Here are some of the best reactions on Twitter in this regard:

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New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will also miss second Test against India

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will also miss the second Test against India in Mumbai due to his long-standing elbow injury. Williamson notably missed quite a few games over the course of the year due to the same injury. In his absence, opener Tom Latham will lead the Kiwis side in this contest.

Speaking to New Zealand Cricket’s official website about Williamson's injury concerns, coach Gary Stead said:

“While we’ve been able to manage the injury through the year and the T20 World Cup, the shift to Test cricket and the increased batting loading has re-aggravated his elbow. Ultimately the injury is still not right and while he got through the Kanpur Test, it was clear playing in the second Test wasn’t an option.”

This means both captains from the first Test in Kanpur will miss the action in the second game.

Meanwhile, the wet outfield in Mumbai has caused a delay in the commencement of the proceedings on Day 1 of the second Test. As things stand, the first ball will be bowled at 12 noon.