Indian opener KL Rahul is most likely to be ruled out of the last Test match against England in July at Edgbaston. This Test was originally scheduled to take place last year but was postponed due to COVID-19 cases in the Indian camp.
KL Rahul, who was appointed as India captain for the Proteas series, suffered a groin injury while preparing for the T20I series against South Africa. It ruled him out of the five-match T20I series against the Proteas too.
“Rahul has not recovered from his groin injury. The Test squad members are assembling in Mumbai today and will fly out midnight. Rahul is not travelling with the team. He will take some more time to recover , although he might appear in a fitness test during the weekend. Chances of recovery aren’t looking bright,” a BCCI official said to PTI.
The recovery of KL Rahul is taking more time than expected. Rahul would appear in a fitness test on Saturday. However the chances of him clearing the fitness test is very low.
In the absence of KL Rahul, Shubhman Gill or Cheteshwar Pujara might open for the Indian team in the 5th Test match.
“It’s a slow process. His recovery has been slow and that’s not a good sign. We have 3-4 days before the second batch leaves. There will be a light fitness test on Saturday. If he clears that, he will board the flight. If he doesn’t, we will wait for him to continue the recovery process,” BCCI official said.
Hardik Pandya named India captain for Ireland series
The 28-year-old all-rounder has been appointed as India’s captain for the two-match T20I series against Ireland, which starts on June 26 in Dublin. Hardik recently guided the Gujarat Titans (GT) to IPL 2022 title in their maiden season.
The squad, that features a maiden call-up for Rahul Tripathi and a return for Sanju Samson, is conspicuous by the absence of India’s Test team regulars who’ll directly fly to England to prepare for the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston.
Squad: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
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