KL Rahul speaks about his comeback from injury
What's the story?
As India get ready to take on Sri Lanka away from home, all eyes will be on KL Rahul who is making his comeback to the side after an elongated break from the game due to injury.
India took on the Board President XI's in a warm-up match before the first Test begins on July 26. Rahul continued from where he left off against Australia and scored another half century.
He scored a quickfire 54 in just 58 balls with seven fours to his name. This was after the President's XI were bowled out for a meagre total of 187 with Kuldeep Yadav picking up four wickets and Ravindra Jadeja picking up three.
Rahul made his comeback into the side after missing three months of action due to injury. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Rahul spoke about his rehab process and the painful process he had to go through.
"Rehab basically for me is possibly the most boring thing you can ever do. Just wake up every morning and to do the same boring thing again and again is quite tiring and it starts to get to you. You start questioning yourself, asking yourself if you really want to do all these boring things. You chose a sport that is exciting and challenges you everyday and here you are, waking up and doing boring things," said Rahul.
"That was the biggest challenge for me but I woke up and there was something that pushed me to go to the gym, go to the physio, go through the painful process, needling and then pushing my shoulder. It was quite tough but it is part of a sportman's life and part of our career. It's good that things like this happened to me early and I am hoping for an injury-free career going forward," he added.
In case you didn't know...
Rahul, who injured himself after the completion of India's long Test season which culminated with a victory against the Kangaroos in March.
He suffered a shoulder injury after the Test series due to which he missed the Indian Premier League and underwent rehabilitation.
Unfortunately, he missed out in India's squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 as well which saw the Men in Blue finish runners up to Pakistan.
The Details:
While Rahul's form in the Test side is all but confirmed, he will most probably have to fight for his place in the limited overs side. With Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in ominous form, Rahul will have to score big in whatever opportunity he is given during the series.
Rahul also revealed that the team physio was extremely happy with the progress he made during his rehab. While his comeback to the side was supposed to take more than three months, Rahul said that he was extremely disciplined and worked hard as he did not want to miss any more matches.
What's next?
India will take on Sri Lanka in 3 Tests, 5 ODIs, and one T20I beginning on July 26.
Author's take
Rahul will be welcomed back into the side with open arms. With Murali Vijay injured and with Dhawan not having played a Test in a long time, Rahul will look to lead the attack from the top of the batting line-up.
It will be interesting to see whether he plays in the ODIs with Rohit and Dhawan in good form. However, he might replace Yuvraj in the batting line-up and play at no. 4, which would probably be the right thing to do.