IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 Mohammad Kaif Rahul Dravid KL Rahul Shreyas Iyer Ishan Kishan – News18

The return of KL Rahul would give a selection headache to the Indian team management when they finalise the Playing XI for the all-important game against Pakistan on Sunday. The Karnataka batter, who was ruled out of the group stage, received a green signal from the medical team at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) before joining the Indian squad in Sri Lanka. He has been training in the nets in Colombo and will be available for selection for Sunday’s game.

It will be interesting to see how the management accommodates Rahul in the playing XI, especially when an in-form Ishan Kishan is already there. The latter played a valiant knock against Pakistan, pulling India out of a precarious situation last week.

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Meanwhile, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif addressed the conundrum, calling it a ‘healthy competition’ among the players. He indicated that the team might bench Kishan to bring in Rahul as the latter, who returns for a break, needs to be tested.

“Rahul Dravid will know that both (Rahul and Iyer) are the backbone of the Indian middle order and that they will need game time. Ishan played really well, and that’s good because there’s healthy competition in the team,” Kaif said on Star Sports.

“However, if an in-form player sits out, then it’s not a problem because Dravid will want to see Rahul bat at No.5. He has good numbers at No. 5, and you will want him and Iyer to get game time and have that form when they play the first World Cup game against Australia,” he added.

Kaif further highlighted that putting an extra load on players – who have recently returned – could aggravate their injuries once again.

“India have seen what happened with Jasprit Bumrah where he was cleared to play by the NCA but then got injured again. So they will need to be careful with Iyer and Rahul and check on how much they need to play and when they need to take breaks. You don’t want to give them too much load before the match begins. That’s why Rahul Dravid and the trainers are present there,” he added.