Asia Cup: KL Rahul 'looking fit' upon joining Indian Team in Colombo ahead of Pakistan tie

KL Rahul has joined the Indian Team in Colombo upon attaining a fitness clearance certificate from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Rahul, who got picked in the 17-man squad for the ongoing Asia Cup 2023, suffered a niggle during the conditioning camp and got ruled out for the first two games. Participating in his first indoor session in the lead-up to the marquee clash against Pakistan, Rahul looked fine, shared chief selector Ajit Agarkar.

KL Rahul was part of the group, including Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur, that trained under the watchful eyes of coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathore. Rahul started with a few throwdowns and batted in rotation with Iyer. Agarkar said Rahul didn't seem to be under any visible discomfort as he played some drives to perfection.

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Both Agarkar and Captain Rohit Sharma insisted on having KL Rahul back in the setup, as he provided stability with bat and gloves in hand. Though in his absence, Ishan Kishan filled in the space quite nicely, hitting a stunning 82 against Pakistan in the first group game. Now, with Rahul back in the side, the right-handed batter could return to the playing XI for the first time since March.

"KL is looking good. We feel this gives us the best balance to try and do well," chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said after Rahul was named in the World Cup squad earlier this week.

"With KL, he was part of the camp in Bengaluru. He looked really good there and has got over his niggle. He played a couple of games over the last two days. I think he kept for 50 overs and batted for around 50 overs too. So he looks good, and we're happy to have him."

Nuwan Seneviratne, the left-arm throwdown specialist, bowled to Rahul over the wicket before KL ran a few sprints in one of the nets. Rahul didn't keep wickets during any of the drills.

Gill prepares for Shaheen

Gill, India's highest-ranked batter in the ODIs, was found wanting against the left-arm bowling of Shaheen Afridi during the Group A game. Naseem Shah and Afridi troubled the right-hander as he got out for 10 off 32 balls.

The Indian youngster had a longish net session facing Seneviratne as he prepares for round two on Sunday, as both teams meet for the first time in Super Four.

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