KL Rahul will be unavailable for the first two matches of the 2023 Asia Cup, further extending his time off from the Indian team due to injury. Here is a brief history of the never-ending list of injuries that have plagued KL Rahul throughout his cricket career.
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When KL Rahul was named in the Indian squad for the Asia Cup, there was hope hope of him being match-fit ahead of India’s first game of the tournament, on September 2 against Pakistan.
However, in a press conference held on August 29, India head coach Rahul Dravid updated that despite being on his road to recovery, KL Rahul will have to miss the first two matches of the tournament as India intend to take be cautious about him keeping the upcoming World Cup in mind.
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In a nine-year international career, Rahul has had rotten luck with injuries. This setback before the Asia Cup extends his already long waiting time before he gets back to top-flight cricket.
Timeline of KL Rahul’s injuries and illnesses
June 2015: Rahul is ruled out of the one-off Test against Bangladesh due to dengue, months after having made his Test debut.
September 2015: Rahul is ruled out of the 2015 Karnataka Premier League due to a quadriceps strain he picked up during India’s 2015 tour of Sri Lanka.
September 2016: Rahul picks up a hamstring injury in the first Test match against New Zealand in Kanpur. He is ruled out of the rest of the series.
November 2016: Having recovered from the hamstring injury, Rahul injures his forearm in his comeback game, the second Test of the five-match series against England, in Visakhapatnam. The injury is aggravated during training, ruling him out of the third Test in Mohali. He returns for the fourth Test.
February 2017: Rahul injures his shoulder during the first Test against Australia, in Pune, but plays the entire series through the pain, making 393 runs. It aggravates the the injury, and he has to miss IPL 2017 and Champions Trophy 2017 as he undergoes shoulder surgery
July 2017: Viral fever delays Rahul’s comeback as he misses out on the first Test match of the Sri Lanka tour, which was supposed to be his first after shoulder surgery.
June 2019: Rahul lands awkwardly on his back while fielding in the 2019 World Cup match against England and has to leave the field in pain. Luckily, it isn’t serious, and he makes his way back to bat in the second innings.
January 2021: Rahul sprains his left wrist in training between the second and third Tests of India’s famous 2020/21 tour of Australia. He is ruled out of the series without having played any part in it.
May 2021: Rahul is diagnosed with acute appendicitis during IPL 2021, requiring him to get surgery. He misses a game for the Punjab Kings before the league is stalled as Covid-19 breaches the biosecure bubble.
November 2021: A left thigh strain rules Rahul out of the two-match home Test series against New Zealand.
June 2022: Rahul is ruled out of the T20Is against South Africa due to a groin injury, which is later revealed to be a sports hernia. He undergoes surgery for it in Germany, ruling him out of the fifth Test against England at Edgbaston in July.
December 2022: Rahul injures his hand during practice ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Fortunately, the injury isn’t bad enough to rule him out.
May 2023: Rahul suffers a right thigh muscle injury while chasing after a ball during an IPL 2023 match. He undergoes surgery, and misses the remainder of IPL, the World Test Championship final, and the West Indies and Ireland tours.
August 2023: Rahul is picked in the Asia Cup squad as his recovery from the thigh injury is almost complete. But he suffers from another unspecified ‘niggle’ which rules him out of the first two matches of the tournament.
