Asia Cup 2023: KL Rahul to miss India vs Pakistan game - Rahul Dravid

Team India coach Rahul Dravid said at a press conference here that KL is progressing well from the niggle he picked after recovering from his injury and will be under NCA supervision till September 4

Ahead of the much-anticipated India vs Pakistan game in Asia Cup 2023, head coach Rahul Dravid gave a major update on the fitness of KL Rahul. 

In a press conference, Dravid said Rahul will be unavailable for the first two games of Asia Cup 2023. India are placed in Group A, along with Pakistan and Nepal. India is set to play their first game against Pakistan on September 2 at Pallekel International Cricket Stadium. While Men In Blue will clash with minnows Nepal on September 4 at the same venue.

Team India coach Rahul Dravid said at a press conference here that KL is progressing well from the niggle he picked after recovering from his injury and will be under the National Cricket Academy (NCA) supervision till September 4.

"He (KL Rahul) had a good week with us, he is progressing really well on the route that we want to take, but he will be unavailable for the first part of the Kandy leg of the trip. The NCA will be looking after him while we are travelling. We will reassess him on fourth (September 4) and we will take it from there. The signs are good and he is progressing really well," Dravid said.

Team India is preparing for the Asia Cup 2023 in the training camp organised at Alur on the outskirts of Bengaluru in Karnataka.

It must be noted that by September 5, BCCI will have to submit the list of 15 players for the World Cup and have a chance to alter names till September 27.
 

In Rahul's absence, Ishan Kishan is likely to don the wicketkeeper's gloves as the other option -- Sanju Samson is only a travelling reserve and technically not a part of 17-member squad.

However, where Kishan is slotted in the batting order would be interesting to see.

"It's just two less games from our perspective. KL is batting well. Slightly more cautious approach leading into the World Cup. He will have a few match simulations over the course of the next few days in the middle.

"We are hoping it will be only two games that he misses and he will be back for the later stages. We also have an Australia series," Dravid added.

Notably, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma informed during the Asia Cup squad announcement that Rahul was completely fit after recovering from a hamstring injury. 

It has been learned that he has caught a niggle during the rehabilitation. Agarkar and Rohit were optimistic that the Karnataka batter might recover before India's league game against Pakistan and Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023.

However, it seems he failed to recover during the preparatory camp in Alur and was thus ruled out of the first two games.

The six group-stage matches will be followed by the Super Fours beginning September 6.

The final will be played by the top two teams at the end of the Super Fours on September 17 in Colombo.

India squad for Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (Back up)

(With agencies inputs)