KL Rahul had provided an update on his injury, which kept him out of India's home series against South Africa and their tour of England which starts on Friday. Rahul said that his “road to recovery has begun”, and on Thursday, he put up another story on his Instagram handle, this time thanking fellow opening batter Shikhar Dhawan for the latter's message.
"Wishing you speedy recovery brother! Get well soon!" Dhawan had said in his Instagram stories in response to Rahul's update. “Thank you my brother” Rahul said in his story in response to Dhawan. Rahul would be hoping to regain full fitness and return to action as soon as possible as he is an integral part of the Indian batting unit in all forms of the game.
In his absence, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant had led India in the South Africa T20Is while Hardik Pandya got his first chance to lead India against Ireland when Pant and the other seniors were preparing for the England Test.
Rahul's absence is likely to pinch India more in the longest format of the game as they aim to achieve a series win in England after 15 years. He was one of India's top performers with the bat last year when they beat England in Lord's and at the Oval to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series before the fifth and final Test at Manchester was postponed due to Covid-19 concerns.
{{/usCountry}}Rahul's absence is likely to pinch India more in the longest format of the game as they aim to achieve a series win in England after 15 years. He was one of India's top performers with the bat last year when they beat England in Lord's and at the Oval to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series before the fifth and final Test at Manchester was postponed due to Covid-19 concerns.
{{/usCountry}}Almost a year later, the postponed fifth Test will take place at Edgbaston in Birmingham and India are likely to be without their first-choice openers Rahul and captain Rohit Sharma. The latter is in a race against time to recover from Covid-19. India head coach Rahul Dravid refused to rule Rohit out of the first Test but it is unlikely that the right-hander will feature in India's XI on Friday.