Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) announced on Tuesday that its top-order batter Rajat Patidar was ruled out of the entire IPL season due to an Achilles heel injury and there is no replacement for him yet.

Royal Challengers Bangalore tweeted on Tuesday evening,  “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. 🗒️”

Rajat Patidar was RCB’s third-highest scorer last year with 333 runs in eight matches at 55.50, including two fifties. He hit the fastest century by an Indian in IPL in the Qualifier 1. The 29-year-old had picked up the injury prior to joining the RCB camp. It was speculated that he would at least be available for the second half of the IPL season, but the announcement has added to the team’s problems.

The news is coming at a time when Josh Hazlewood, who is the RCB’s second-most successful bowler with 20 wickets in 12 matches last season, has indicated that he will not be match-fit till the fourth week of April.

Soon after hearing the news, Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted, “Really got to feel for Rajat Patidar. I thought this would be break-out tournament and he had been in good form. Wish him well. He is a fine player. For @RCBTweets someone like Lomror or Prabhudesai will have to step up since they might lose Bracewell once Hasaranga returns.”