Asia Cup 2022: India’s sensational opener KL Rahul has joined the Indian cricket team for the three-match One-Day International series against Zimbabwe. The Indian squad left for the tour Down Under, which will kickstart on August 18.
KL Rahul All Set To Return To Team India
Rahul has finally returned to the Indian team after recovering from the injury. He was joined by his fellow teammates and National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman on their tour of the African nation.
Rahul has been cleared by the BCCI medical team to play in the upcoming three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe. He was even named as the captain of the side by the All-India Senior Selection Committee and also named Shikhar Dhawan as his deputy.
The last time KL Rahul was seen playing a competitive match was back on May 25 earlier this year, in the eliminatory round of the Indian Premier League. Following the conclusion of IPL 2022, the 29-year-old was named captain for the South Africa series but he had to pull out due to an injury.
While fans are excitedly waiting for his comeback, but a strong batsman of the team will not be happy at all with his return. After KL Rahul’s arrival on the team, it is now becoming impossible for this player to be a part of the playing 11 on the Zimbabwe tour.
A sports hernia operation followed in Germany and just when it looked like he would make a return in time for the West Indies series, he contracted COVID-19. Incidentally, he also missed India’s tour to England and Ireland. Since he was taking time to fully recover from the injury, he was not initially selected for the Zimbabwe tour.
Rituraj Gaikwad was recently given an opportunity to be a part of the team in the absence of KL Rahul and was also included in the playing 11.
In his absence, Ruturaj Gaikwad was given the opportunity to open the innings on several occasions. In the 5-match T20 series played against South Africa, Ruturaj Gaikwad played as an opener in all the matches, but after Rahul’s return to the team, Gaikwad will find it very difficult to feature in the playing XI.
India ODI squad against Zimbabwe: KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar.
