KL Rahul to Miss Pakistan, Nepal Matches of Asia Cup 2023

New Delhi: Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was excluded from the Indian team for the first two matches of the upcoming Asia Cup due to a “niggle”.

Confirming this news, India head coach Rahul Dravid said the “niggle” is unrelated to Rahul’s thigh injury that kept him out of action for months.

“KL has had a good week with us, playing well, progressing really well but he will be unavailable for the first part for the Kandy leg of the trip,” Dravid said at the pre-departure press meet.

“The NCA will be looking after him for the next few days while we are travelling. We will reassess on the 4th (September) and take it from there. But signs are looking good. He will be unavailable for the first two games,” Dravid added.

India takes on Pakistan in its tournament opener on September 2 followed by Nepal on September 4.

India Squad for Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling back-up)