KL Rahul targets return from injury in two months

KL Rahul will miss the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. (Source: Express Archive)

KL Rahul has ben out of action with a shoulder injury ever since the Australia series. The injury has kept him out of action ever since and missed the on-going Indian Premier and will also miss the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. With that, the next assignment on calendar that he’s targeting is the Sri Lanka series. “It’s been just a month that I had this surgery. It will take some more time, maybe two months to recover and attain the required fitness to get back to international cricket. So aiming for sometime in August for comeback, probably can make a comeback for the Sri Lanka series,” he said on Monday.

The 25-year-old acknowledged that the injury has plagued him not just physically but also mentally. “So far it (the injury and the period after that) has been challenging not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. To be at home and not do anything is frustrating. It is challenging for me. Missing tournaments due to injury is a part and parcel of the game for a player. Of course I miss playing cricket, being part of the IPL, it is the biggest tournament in India and the Champions Trophy, would have been the first world (ICC) tournament that I would have played. It could have been a big moment in my career, I was looking forward to play in the Champions Trophy. It is little bit frustrating. I will take care of my recovery and come back stronger,” he said.

The Karnataka batsman admitted that the Australia pace attack tested the Indian team with India winning the series 2-1 after trailing 0-1. “By far the toughest attacks we have faced at home in the last one year. They came well-prepared and were a strong unit. We were challenged a lot. We hadn’t lost a Test match in two years, so we learnt how to pick up from 0-1 down to beat the team 2-1. Can’t say we had lot of home advantage,” he said hailing the team’s dominant show at home with Test series wins at home against New Zealand, England and then Australia.