Defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders had suffered a huge below because of the exclusion of Australian pacer James Pattinson who was ruled out because of some problem in his lower abdominal region for which he will be undergoing a surgery on Friday.
According to the recent reports in The Hindu, Chief Medical Officer of Cricket Australia, Justin Paoloni, was quoted saying, "Pattinson will be undergoing for a surgery because of a non-cricket related medical condition in his lower abdominal region which had been creating a lot of trouble for him since the tour of India concluded."
Meanwhile, the reports in Indian Express quoted Justin saying, “Earlier his departure for joining the KKR was delayed till this Friday but as per the recent medical reports he need to go that surgery and then only we can take a call on how much time he needs for recovery from that.”
As per the reports of Indian Express, Chief Medical Officer, was quoted saying “We are expecting him to be back in after four weeks so that he can start his preparation for Ashes which is our top priority as of now. But whether he will be ready to play the ICC Champions Trophy will be determined at a later stage." the statement said.
Pattinson is the second Australian cricketer to have missed this season's Indian Premier League after Pune Warriors Michael Clarke.