KL Rahul declared fit, to lead India in Zimbabwe ODIs

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given a green signal to KL Rahul for the upcoming by the ODI series against Zimbabwe. BCCI also announced that the player will take the captaincy role from Shikhar Dhawan, who was previously announced to lead the squad on the Zimbabwe tour.

“The BCCI Medical Team has assessed KL Rahul and cleared him to play in the upcoming three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has appointed KL Rahul as the captain of the side and Shikhar Dhawan will be his deputy,” a BCCI release read.

Rahul was named in India’s squad for the recent five-match T20I series against West Indies but missed the entire tour after testing positive for Covid-19. He missed India’s five-match home series against South Africa before that owing to groin injury. Rahul’s struggles with injury and fitness have led to him missing India’s 22 international matches since the conclusion of the Indian Premier League 2022. He last played a competitive match for Lucknow Super Giants in Indian Premier League 2022 in May and has not played international cricket since February 2022.

The 30-year-old opening batter is already included in India’s 2022 Asia Cup squad. It was reported that the player will be part of the Zimbabwe tour to regain match fitness before the start of the Asia Cup. But the player himself revealed that he is still not ready to return for international matches.

India’s updated squad for Zimbabwe: KL Rahul (c) Shikhar Dhawan (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar.