Rehabilitating Rahul unavailable for opening two games of Asia ODI Series

KL Rahul will not be available for the opening two games of the 2023 Asia ODI Series, India’s head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed the update on Tuesday (August 29). The right handed batsman, who has been on the road to recovery after a long layoff due to an injury, is advancing well as per Dravid but will be travelling with the team to Sri Lanka for the group fixtures. 

Having been out of action ever since he sustained an injury during an Ind T20 League fixture this year, Rahul did recuperate in time to be selected in India’s squad for the Asia ODI Series. However, chief selector Ajit Agarkar dropped a hint earlier that Rahul might miss a few games of the tournament. Rahul was seen batting without much discomfort in India’s skills camp at Alur recently and had begun keeping duties as well but a careful approach has been taken. 

India will face Pakistan in their campaign opener on Saturday (September 2) in Pallekele before taking the field against Nepal in the other group tie on Monday. According to Dravid, a decision on Rahul’s involvement in the Super Fours, should India qualify, will be made on September 4. Ishan Kishan is the backup wicket keeper batter in the squad whereas Sanju Samson is also available as a travelling reserve. 

"He has had a really good week with us, really trained well, he is progressing well on the route we want to take but he will be unavailable for the Kandy leg of the trip," Dravid said. "The NCA will be looking after him for the next few days while we are travelling. We will reassess on the 4th and then take it from there. But the signs are looking good and he is progressing really well."

Dravid also dismissed the claims suggesting that Rahul might be undercooked for the showpiece event in October in India “The way we are looking at it is actually just two less games that he is going to miss," he remarked. "Both him and Shreyas are in the same boat. He is really batting well, keeping well, he is doing everything, it's just a slightly more cautious approach leading into the ODI World Series.

"He will have a couple of match simulations over the next few days which will give him longer time out there in the middle. We are hoping that it's just two games that he misses and should be available for the latter part of the tour, there is an Australia series as well. I'm not too worried about it. Both him and Shreyas are experienced players."