Lucknow Super Giants have got a massive boost as their skipper KL Rahul has been declared fit for the upcoming 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, for now, he has been told to avoid keeping and will play only as a pure batter in the first few matches of IPL 2024.
The Super Giants have specialist wicketkeepers in Nicholas Pooran and Quinton de Kock who are also more or less certainties in the playing XI. So, they won’t be worried on that front. Coming back to Rahul, this IPL season is very crucial for him as he is likely to bat in the middle order to stake claim for a place in India’s T20 World Cup squad.
He has been moving down the order for quite some time now having played the ODI World Cup at number five and as wicketkeeper. He also donned the gloves in South Africa Tests while scoring a century at number five as well.
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KL Rahul fit for IPL 2024
As for Rahul’s injury, he has been away from the action since the first Test against England in Hyderabad due to quadriceps injury. He was earlier expected to get fully fit for fourth Test with BCCI even stating that he has regained 90% fitness. But he never came back and missed the rest of the series.
Rahul was recovering from his injury at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and has received clearance to feature in the cash-rich league. However, the cricketer, it is understood, has been told to avoid squatting for a few days.
“The NCA has given him clearance and he will join his mates in Lucknow on Thursday (March 20) before they travel to Jaipur for the opening game against Rajasthan Royals on March 24.
It is understood that he has been told to avoid squatting initially and he can don the big gloves in coming days. For first few games, he will only play as pure batter,” a BCCI source close to the developments told PTI.
Apart from a challenge of staking a claim as middle-order batter in India’s squad for T20 World Cup, KL Rahul will also be looking to shut the critics who point out his strike-rate. He has been under the radar in that aspect in IPL over the last few seasons now and last year was no different either.
Before getting ruled out due to injury, KL Rahul played nine matches for Lucknow Super Giants scoring 274 runs at a poor strike-rate of 113.22 with two fifties to his name. His cautious start was criticised a lot despite batting in the powerplay but a likely new role in the middle-order might lead to him making changes in his style of play.
Lucknow Super Giants squad for IPL 2023: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Prerak Mankad, Yudhvir Singh, Shamar Joseph, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Naveen-ul-Haq, Shivam Mavi, Arshin Kulkarni, M Siddharth, Ashton Turner, David Willey, Arshad Khan
