KL Rahul won’t be available for either of India’s opening two Asia Cup games against Pakistan and Nepal, according to head coach Rahul Dravid. The decision regarding the wicketkeeper-batter’s participation will be made on September 4; he will not be going with the rest of the team.
He has had a great week with us, has trained exceptionally well, and is moving along the route we want to pursue, but he won’t be available for the Kandy part of the trip. For the next few days while we are gone, the NCA will take care of him. On the fourth, we will reevaluate, and we will go from there. However, the signals are encouraging, and he is making great progress, Dravid remarked in a press conference following the conclusion of Team India’s skill-based camp in Alur.
Although the 31-year-old took part in the camp and practised both keeping and hitting, the management is taking a cautious stance. Regarding Rahul, who greatly contributes to the side’s balance and the middle order’s strength, they are unwilling to take any chances.
“From our perspective, it only means that he will miss two fewer games. Shreyas and him (Rahul) are on the same boat. He is doing everything, even keeping and batting, but it’s just a little bit more careful going into the World Cup,” Dravid added.
KL When the team flies to Sri Lanka, Rahul will participate in some match simulations, and Dravid hopes to get him back in the lineup for the remainder of the Asia Cup and the Australia series, which comes before the ODIs.
He will undergo a few match simulations over the coming days, giving him more time in the middle of the pitch. We are expecting that he will just miss two games and will be able to play in the remaining games of the tour, which includes an Australia series. I’m not really concerned about it, Dravid added.
Question of Ishan Kishan
Due to Rahul’s absence, India needs to fill the position of wicketkeeper-batter and have a middle-order batsman, specifically at No. 5. The other wicketkeeper-batter on the Asia Cup team was Ishan Kishan, a left-hander who is likely to score in the middle of the order. Sanju Samson is a backup player who travels with the team, but Kishan is more likely to start than the right-hander.
Where the management fits Kishan, however, will be the key question. For Team India, the aggressive southpaw batted at the top of the order and excelled most there. If a slot opens up at the top of the order for him, the rest of the batting order is up for grabs, and the stability that this squad so sorely needs in advance of the multi-nation competition won’t materialise.
A movable Position?
Kishan can certainly be used as a floater, and Rohit Sharma and company shouldn’t make too many changes to the batting order. With Virat Kohli at No. 3 and Rohit and Shubman Gill most likely to begin, Shreyas Iyer must bat at No. 4 before being followed by players like Kishan, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja. While the rest of the batting lineup can be altered based on match-ups and circumstances, the first four should receive regular runs in the same spot. During his news conference following the unveiling of the Asia Cup roster, Rohit had stressed this.
“Making sure everyone is okay to bat everywhere is one thing I want from this team. One thing we must remember is that. You need adaptable men who can fill any position. Nobody should ever claim to be good in a particular position. The message is sent to everyone that you want guys to be able to bat everywhere. In the past three to four years, not just now,” Rohit had stated in New Delhi.
The captain went on to say that by flexibility, he didn’t mean having the openers bat at No. 8 and vice versa. He wants the team to be prepared to handle many matchups and circumstances. The Asia Cup is an opportunity to put Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, and Ravindra Jadeja’s batting prowess to the test and use it wisely. Use them strategically and at the appropriate times, though.
