KL Rahul likely to be ruled out of Asia Cup 2023: In a fresh blow to the Indian team, wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul has suffered a fresh niggle and is likely to be ruled out of the initial phase of the Asia Cup 2023. The development was confirmed by chief Indian selector Ajit Agarkar during the press conference, earlier today.
The chief selector, Ajit Agarkar confirmed that KL Rahul has suffered a fresh injury setback over the last few days. Although he claimed that the fresh niggle isn’t related to KL Rahul’s hamstring injury issue and there is nothing serious to worry about, the right-handed batter could miss the early phase of the Asia Cup 2023, which will begin on August 30 in Pakistan.
KL Rahul, along with Shreyas Iyer, are nursing their respective injuries at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. While Rahul underwent surgery to mend his troubling hamstring, Shreyas Iyer went under the surgical knife to cure a back issue. Both aforementioned batters have been undergoing multiple match simulations at the NCA in the recent past to test their match fitness.
In an encouraging development, while, Shreyas Iyer was deemed completely fit by the medical team at the NCA, as mentioned by Ajit Agarkar during the press conference, KL Rahul was learnt to develop a fresh niggle.
Notably, Team India’s Asia Cup 2023 announcement mostly revolved around the fitness of these two mentioned cricketers. Since the past few weeks, there were many speculations around the fitness of the two batters.
However, as things stand clear, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have been included in India’s 17-men strong squad for the Asia Cup 2023.
As a precaution, the BCCI has put wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson as a backup for KL Rahul, who will accelerate his recovery process from the fresh niggle.
“Shreyas has been declared completely fit. Rahul, in the last few days, not his original injury, has incurred a niggle which is why Sanju will be travelling with the team. But the physio…I’m sure there will be an official statement, but we are at some stage expecting him to be completely fit if not at the start of the Asia Cup, but in the second or the third game. But he is well on track,” said the BCCI chief selector.
Rohit Sharma-led India will start their Asia Cup 2023 campaign against Pakistan on September 2nd in Kandy. India is set to play as many as 5 ODI fixtures in the Asia Cup 2023, and six if it qualifies for the final of the tournament. Down below is India’s Squad for the Asia Cup 2023.
India’s Squad for Asia Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (VC), Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Md. Shami, Md. Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (standby).
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For more details head to BCCI’s official website.