Asia Cup 2023: KL Rahul returns for India vs Pakistan, Shreyas Iyer misses with back spasms
Asia Cup 2023: KL Rahul returns for India vs Pakistan, Shreyas Iyer misses with back spasms
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KL Rahul has returned into the India playing XI against Pakistan for the Super Four clash of the Asia Cup on Sunday. India skipper Rohit Sharma spoke about the change at the toss and elaborated it was enforced by back spasm to Shreyas Iyer.
Asia Cup LIVE: India vs Pakistan in Super Four
Initially, it appeared KL Rahul was not going to make an appearance just yet having joined the squad in Sri Lanka just this week. The wicketkeeper-batter took part in the nets session where he batted and kept wickets on Thursday and Friday.
As the toss got closer, KL Rahul started limbering up and ran in the drills late before the toss. He is coming back after undergoing treatment for thigh injury that needed surgery and lengthy rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
For Iyer and Team India, this is a troubling development. The 28-year-old had undergone a back surgery after aggravating the issue during Australia’s tour to India. Fact that it has come on the heels of the ODI World Cup doesn’t help either.
Meanwhile, the other change on Sunday sees Jasprit Bumrah return to the playing XI after missing the game against Nepal as he returned home for the birth of his son.
At the toss, India were put in to bat by Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
“Looking to bat first. There will be a challenge upfront, but the way we guys batted last time around gives us confidence. Every game is important for us, but one thing at a time to focus on,” said Rohit Sharma.
On rain delays, he said, “That’s the nature of the sport, it gave us good time to prepare and now we’ll look to play well.”
Pakistan captain Babar Azam will once again hope his seamers can make early inroads into the Indian batting order. In their meeting in the group stage, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi troubled the Indian batting.
“I think there is a bit of moisture, we need to use that. Always, India Pakistan is high intensity, but we will take it match to match. As a team, we are playing well, we are focused on this one,” said Azam while announcing there were no changes to the team that beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets on Wednesday.
India XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
