The Story:
The return of two highly talented young batsmen in the form of Manish Pandey and KL Rahul is sure to boost the Indian side in the near future. The two Karnataka youngsters have had a long injury history and were out of the reckoning for quite a while. While the dynamic KL Rahul had his shoulder operated upon just after the home Test series against Australia, an injury to Pandey during the IPL meant that his name was withdrawn from the list of the Champions Trophy squad and he was replaced at the last minute by Dinesh Karthik.
Despite not having an unhindered run to their respective careers, the duo have already proved themselves in the limited chances. Pandey, rose to the occasion in January 2016, when his superb 104* finished a massive 330 run chase for India against Australia in Sydney, and won the men in blue the game. Pandey was also called up to the T20I side then to replace the injured Yuvraj Singh for the semi-final of the 2016 World T20.
The Recent Past:
Just as it seemed that his career was getting back on the track after a mighty fine 2017 IPL, a side strain injury ruled him out of the Champions Trophy. Rahul on the other hand, batted throughout the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a shoulder injury that restricted his strokeplay. After getting operated in London, Rahul has now recovered and the officials from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore have given the two batsmen the green signal with regards to their fitness.
What Next?
With Indian middle order comprising mainly of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni struggling off late, Rahul and Pandey’s addition will do the side a world of good. The experienced duo of Yuvraj and Dhoni need to perform in the remaining games in the West Indies and with gifted individuals like Pandey and Rahul all fit, the competition is just about to get intensified. The management will surely keep the two Kanataka batsmen in the scheme of things for the 2019 World Cup in England.
With India’s next ODI assignment set in Sri Lanka, expect the duo to make a comeback to the squad for that series.