Before the opening of the Asia Cup 2023, Rahul Dravid engaged with the media. During this encounter, he candidly aired his opinions over the Indian batting lineup. Dravid thoroughly detailed the problems relating to identifying the perfect candidate for the number 4 slot on Team India. Additionally, he dug into the topic of the team’s continuous efforts in the domain of experimentation.
The Indian cricket squad is geared up for their voyage to Sri Lanka for the much-anticipated Asia Cup 2023. However, the team is coping with recurrent worries about injuries, which are causing some anxiety among the players. In a chat with the press on Tuesday, Rahul Dravid disclosed that KL Rahul won’t be able to play in the early matches of the group stage when India is expected to face off against Pakistan and Nepal. KL Rahul will be continuing his recovery under the care of the National Cricket Academy. A decision regarding his trip plans will be made on the 4th of September, taking into consideration his progress.
India has been feeling the absence of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant for quite a while. All three middle-order batsmen were sadly sidelined owing to injuries and needed surgery. To cover the gap they left behind, India has been trying out numerous approaches.
They offered Suryakumar Yadav an opportunity at the Number 4 spot, but even though he’s a top player in T20Is according to ICC rankings, he hasn’t been able to find his footing in ODIs. For fans eagerly awaiting his comeback, Pant won’t be back in action for a few more months; the hope is that he’ll be back on the field next year.
“To be honest, this word ‘experimentation’ gets thrown around a lot without actually being thought through. It’s not like we’re experimenting for the sake of experimenting. There are specific reasons why you have to do that. For example, No.4 and No.5 gets discussed a lot and it gives an impression that we don’t have clarity on who is going to be there,” said Dravid when asked about the possibilities of doing so in the upcoming Asia Cup.
“But to be honest, I could have told you 18 or 19 months ago who were the two or three candidates that we were looking at for No.4 or 5 slot. It was always going to be between Shreyas [Iyer], KL [Rahul] and Rishabh [Pant],” Dravid further added.
Rahul Dravid Gives A Major Update On Shreyas Iyer Fitness
Shreyas Iyer is back in action after successfully overcoming his back stress fracture. He’s now in top-notch condition and ready to rejoin the squad. The Men in Blue have exciting plans for him as he gears up to take on the role of the designated Number 4 batter.
“If you look back at the teams that we picked 18 months ago, there were no doubts in our minds. It is unfortunate that all three ended up with injuries in a space of two months. What are the odds of that happening? Nobody could calculate that, especially with the limited number of games we were having in one-day cricket. We were also focussing on the T20 World Cup and World Test Championship. We were trying to balance that out, trying to give enough game-time to people. And all three of the guys pushing for that spot got injured in a space of three months,” Rahul Dravid further stated.
