“The time we give him now to strengthen his hamstrings will play a big role in mitigating future risk”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill will miss the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after aggravating a pair of hamstring injuries.

Guptill will be sidelined for the next six weeks in order to have plenty of time to get fully fit ahead of the Champions Trophy in England in June.

Prior to the Champions Trophy, Guptill will be in action for the Kings XI Punjab, who bought him in the second round of the IPL auction. However, he will miss their first few games.

“At the moment Martin isn’t fit to play and the time we give him now to strengthen his hamstrings will play a big role in mitigating future risk too,” New Zealand physiotherapist Tommy Simsek said. “We’ve put a programme in place to make sure that Martin can return to full strength and we’ll continue to monitor him closely.”

New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson added: “Having Martin fully fit is critical, as we all know the positive influence he has on our side. Martin knows this is an important period to get back to 100% so that he can be fully confident when he is on the park. The Champions Trophy isn’t far away and we obviously want Martin firing on all cylinders for that tournament.”

Guptill’s injury has also ruled him out of contention for regaining his spot in the Test team. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it just so happens that New Zealand are likely to need a replacement for veteran middle order batsman Ross Taylor as he suffered a low grade tear in his right calf while batting against South Africa on the second day of the first Test in Dunedin.