Asia Cup 2023: KL Rahul to miss first two matches against Pakistan and Nepal, confirms Rahul Dravid

India coach Rahul Dravid has confirmed that wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul will be missing the first two matches of Asia Cup 2023. Rahul will sit out of the matches against Pakistan and Nepal which will be played on 2 and 4 September respectively.

“KL Rahul is progressing really well but will not be available for India’s first two matches – against Pakistan and Nepal – of the Asia Cup 2023: Head Coach Rahul Dravid,” BCCI posted on X (formerly Twitter).

UPDATE

KL Rahul is progressing really well but will not be available for India’s first two matches – against Pakistan and Nepal – of the #AsiaCup2023: Head Coach Rahul Dravid#TeamIndia

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 29, 2023

Rahul was named in the Team India squad last week after recovering from a thigh injury that he suffered during IPL 2023 but BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar had confirmed that the player had sustained a slight niggle.

“Rahul, not his original injury but there’s a niggle. We’ll get a report from the physio at some stage but we all expect him (Rahul) to be fit. If not at the start, by the second or third game, but he’s on track,” Agarkar had said.

Asia Cup: Dravid speaks on the upcoming tournament and his players

During his pre-departure press conference for the Asia Cup, Rahul Dravid also confirmed that KL Rahul will be staying back at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and a call on his participation will be taken on 4 September.

“KL has had a good week with us, playing well, progressing really well but he will be unavailable for the first part for the Kandy leg of the trip,” Dravid said.

“The NCA will be looking after him for the next few days while we are travelling. We will reassess on the 4th (September) and take it from there. But signs are looking good. He will be unavailable for the first two games,” Dravid added.

KL Rahul last played for India in an ODI against Australia in March this year.

India squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Traveling stand-by player: Sanju Samson