A welcome boost for India in their preparation for the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test which begins on November 22, KL Rahul resumed batting in the nets, having finally recovered from his shoulder injury.
Rahul retired hurt on 29 after a sharp blow to his right elbow from a climbing delivery from tall pacer Prasidh Krishna during India's intra-squad match simulation on Friday and was forced to go off the field with the physio. As he left grimacing in pain, Rahul didn't return to batting for the rest of the day and on Saturday as well.
Various reports coming from Perth on Sunday said Rahul was put through a solid practice with the Indian team, where players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant hadn't turned up at the WACA. It also said Rahul spent nearly an hour batting on the centre wicket, before commencing further practice at the nets.
Though Rahul was not much fluent with the bat, he didn't look out of place either. With Shubman Gill all set to miss the first Test owing to a fractured thumb that he picked while catching in the slips and uncertainty surrounding Rohit Sharma as well making it to Perth on time after his second child's birth on November 15, Rahul's return to batting will come as good news to the Indian team.
The visitors have Rahul as one of the top-order batting options for the five-match series alongside uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran, while India can also summon left-handed batting pair of B Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal, who had good knocks as India A batters in the two four-day games against Australia A.
Hosts Australia will have their first training at the WACA on Monday, while India had a week full of nets and centre-wicket stimulations, featuring the main players and A team members. India will start their preparation at the Optus Stadium, which will host the first Test, from Tuesday.
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