Rohit Sharma, who was recently named the deputy captain of India's Test cricket team, will miss the upcoming three-match series against South Africa due to a hamstring injury.
His injury has come at a rather unfortunate time for the Indian cricket team, considering South Africa is where Team India has never won a series.
Moreover, Rohit has been India's highest run-getter in Test matches (the five-day format of the game) in 2021, scoring an impressive 906 runs at an average of 47.68 in 11 such matches.
But the latest news of Rohit's injury didn't please a section of cricket lovers in India as some accused the talismanic batter of "faking injuries".
A few even alleged that Rohit's latest injury was an "unbelievable lie", others termed it a "better love story" than the decorated cricketer's affection for making "double hundreds".
Yet, former Indian cricketers Aakash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, and Saba Karim were much more circumspect in their assessment of Rohit's injury. All of them agree on one point - Rohit's absence will have a huge impact on the national team's chances of winning the important series in South Africa.
"Rohit Sharma is going to be a huge miss", Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Both Gambhir and Karim, though, looked much more concerned about the team's ability to negotiate the Proteas new ball bowlers in testing conditions.
While Gambhir dubbed Rohit's injury-forced absence a "massive blow", Karim called it a "huge setback".
"It's a big blow for India and the way he batted in England, he would have liked to go, South Africa, as he wouldn't want to miss a Test while being in good form. He was just appointed as a vice-captain so it's a massive blow", the 2011 World Cup winner told the Indian media on Tuesday.
"Rohit Sharma's absence is a huge setback for India. He has brought back stability to the top-order. The way he has adapted his game to Test cricket has been brilliant", ex-India wicketkeeper Karim concluded.
The Test series between India and South Africa begins with a Boxing Day Test match from 26-30 December in Centurion. The first match will be followed by second and third games in Johannesburg and Cape Town from 3-7 and 11-15 January respectively.