Star Indian opener KL Rahul, who recently got married to Bollywood actress Athiya Shetty, has returned back to cricket as he resumed his training ahead of the much-awaited four-match Test series against Australia in February-March. KL Rahul, who had led the Indian cricket team in India’s last Test assignment against Bangladesh in the absence of Rohit Sharma, had taken a break to tie the knot with his girlfriend Athiya Shetty on January 23. He also missed the white-ball series against New Zealand.
However, with the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy just around nine days away, with the first Test match scheduled in Nagpur, the vice-captain for the series Rahul has resumed his training. Rahul was seen batting in the nets at a cricket club in Mumbai’s Bandra. The video of the same has been going viral on the internet, watch it here:
#KLRahul𓃵 is back doing what he does best after his marriage with #AthiyaShetty. The stylish batsman was seen batting at MIG CC in Bandra.
Video courtesy my friend Nishant Patankar. #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/GPbg6SIlnT— Taus Rizvi (@rizvitaus) January 30, 2023
Upcoming India vs Australia Test series will be India’s final assignment in the ongoing 2021-23 cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). Having won both Tests against Bangladesh and with Australia beating South Africa 2-0. India just needs to win two out of four matches to make it to the WTC final.
Notably, the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy could be critical in Rahul’s position in the Indian squad, considering how Shubman Gill has been in some stellar form in the Test format. KL has also been struggling to score runs, with returns of 22, 23, 10, and 2 in his last games.
Rahul is most likely to open the innings alongside skipper Rohit Sharma having been named the vice-captain of the team. On the other hand, Shubman Gill, who recently scored his maiden century in Tests, might walk out to bat lower down in the order if Shreyas Iyer fails to recover in time.
Team India squad for Border-Gavaskar series:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Note: Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness.
Australia squad for Border-Gavaskar series: Pat Cummins (captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
