KL Rahul and his injury concerns are not new for the Indian cricket. He got injured last year during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and returned only in the Asia Cup just before the World Cup. He then got injured during the first Test of the ongoing series against England and missed the second Test. Interestingly, he was expected to get fit in time even for the third Test but the BCCI stated that he is 90% fit and will be back for the fourth Test.
However, the batter has still not recovered from injury and has been ruled out of the fourth Test in Ranchi. Moreover, he is also doubtful for the final Test in Dharamsala raising serious doubts on his fitness. Meanwhile, India's batting coach Vikram Rathour has provided an update on Rahul's fitness saying that the cricketer is unfit. When asked about the specific percentage fitness, Rathour said a player is either fit or unfit and that he doesn't believe in percentages in this regard.
" I don’t know about the percentage but as far as I am concerned, it’s either fit or unfit. As of now, he is unfit. BCCI’s medical team will be in a better position to know about the injury," Rathour said on the eve of the fourth Test between India and England. As usual the pitch has been a talking point ahead of the Ranchi Test but Rathour has labelled it as a 'typical Indian wicket' which will assist the spinners. However, he also admitted that it is difficult to tell how much the ball will turn.
"Every time we play in India, there's a question mark on the pitch... It's a typical Indian wicket, there are cracks, this wicket always has cracks," Rathour added while also saying that Bumrah has been rested keeping the hectic schedule in mind. He also lauded the Indian pacer for bowling his heart out in this Test series. "We love to see Bumrah play every match. But it is not advisable. The kind of workload, schedule we have, everybody felt it's better to give him a break," the batting coach said.
