Basil Thampi suffers knee injury in the Ranji quarterfinals

24-year-old Basil Thampi suffered an injury on the second day of Kerala’s Ranji Trophy Quarterfinals against Vidarbha on Friday. The pacer was hit on his left knee by a throw from his teammate Sandeep Warrier. Basil left the field in pain and it doesn’t look very encouraging. Kerala’s spearhead was earlier included in India’s 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

Basil bowled 12.4 overs and picked a wicket before the unfortunate incident took place in the 91st over of Vidarbha’s innings. Kerala clearly missed his service, as they were bowled out for mere 172 in their first innings. Basil had earlier contributed with the bat against Haryana, where scored 60 as a nightwatchman. Vidarbha have now taken a 100-plus run lead and have nine wickets in hand after being skittled for 246 in their first innings.

Basil to join Indian camp

Basil is set to join the Indian team at the conclusion of the Ranji quarterfinals. He had earlier told PTI that he is looking forward to the upcoming international assignment. “I am feeling very proud and happy. But, I was surprised to learn from KCA secretary Jayesh George that I had been selected for the Indian team. It is a great moment as it has always been my dream to don the national colours,” he said.

“In the past one year, I have become a more confident bowler and I’m hopeful of doing well for India against Sri Lanka,” he added.

Playing for Gujarat Lions, in this years’ IPL, Basil bagged the ‘Emerging player of the season’ award. He scalped 11 wickets from 12 games in the 2017 edition of the league “The IPL this year was a turning point in my career, especially the match against Mumbai Indians. In my last two overs, I bowled something like 10 yorkers to batsmen like Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard. This got me noticed,” he said.