Vikrant Shekhawat : Aug 02, 2023, 11:43 PM
Asia Cup 2023: Less than a month is left in the Asia Cup and the World Cup will start a month after that. Team India is busy preparing for both these tournaments and has just gone through the experiment phase in the ODI series against the West Indies. Now it seems that they will have to implement these experiments at least in the Asia Cup. This is because the two star players of the team, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, are finding it difficult to play in this 6-team tournament. The Asia Cup will begin in Pakistan from August 30, while Team India will play its first match against Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It has been told in a report of the cricket website that it is very difficult for these two middle order batsmen to play in the tournament starting at the end of this month. The reason for this is that both are not yet fully fit. Shreyas Iyer has been out of the cricket field since March, while Rahul was injured during the IPL in May, after which he is trying to get himself fully fit. However, from the latest reports, it seems that it is difficult for both of them to be fit till the Asia Cup.BCCI gave fitness updateAbout two weeks ago (July 21), the Board of Control for Cricket in India had issued a medical update regarding some of its players. In this, information was also given on KL Rahul and Shreyas. The board had told that both the batsmen have started batting practice at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and both are working on their strength and fitness drills. The board had also told that the medical team of NCA was satisfied with the speed of recovery of both.
Not only BCCI, but Shreyas and Rahul themselves also shared pictures and videos of their fitness drills and batting practice on Instagram in recent times. Rahul had posted a video on Wednesday, August 2 itself, in which apart from batting, he was also seen keeping.
Will get a chance in the World CupHowever, despite this, the fitness of both is under doubt and there is an opinion within the board that it would not be right to rush to bring both of them back to international cricket. In such a situation, it seems almost impossible for these two to play in the Asia Cup. Two days ago, the board announced the T20 team for the tour of Ireland, in which Jasprit Bumrah and the famous Krishna returned but Rahul and Shreyas did not find a place. However, it has been told in the report that despite the current situation, both the batsmen are part of the World Cup plan.Who will handle the middle order?The World Cup is to start from October 5 while India's first match will be on October 8. Team India also needs both very much because both of them are the life of middle order in ODI format. Before getting injured, Iyer was handling the responsibility of batting at number four and Rahul at number five. Rahul was also doing wicketkeeping and was also in good form.Now in such a situation, it is like a big blow for the plans of Team India because the team seems to be scattered in the middle order itself. Also, it has become clear that in the Asia Cup, Team India will have to implement the same experiments which it did in the ODI series against the West Indies. That is, there will be a fight between Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson for the fourth and fifth positions.