EXPLAINED: Why KL Rahul Opts Out From IND vs ENG Series?
India’s star batter KL Rahul has opted to take a rest from cricket after getting exhausted physically in the recently passed Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. As per reports, Rahul has informed the BCCI and chief selector Ajit Agarkar that he wants to take a break from the limited-overs series at home against England starting January 22 in Kolkata. The Indian team will play a total of five T20s and three ODIs against England before the Champions Trophy, which will start on February 19.
Notably, Rahul is not the first choice when it comes to India’s ODI setup since the duo of Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson are in contention. Rahul however will take part in the Champions Trophy if given a chance by the selectors. The Indian team will be playing all their matches in Dubai while the rest of the matches will be played in the host nation, Pakistan.
“He has sought a break for the England series, but he will be available for selection for the Champions Trophy,” a BCCI source told PTI on Thursday.
In the recently concluded five-match Test series against Australia, Rahul batted well as he was the third-highest run scorer for India. He made 276 runs in 10 innings at an average of 30.66. KL Rahul went to play the series as a number 6 batter but since Rohit Sharma was on paternity leave, he was asked to open the innings alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. The Karnataka-based batter batted well in both the innings of the Perth Test and as a result, when Rohit joined the Indian team for the second Test, he batted down the order. The Indians team ended up losing the series 1-3 to Australia.
KL Rahul has not even taken part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Karnataka. His home team will take part in the quarterfinal over the weekend.
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