India’s premier opener KL Rahul is all set to make his return in the longest format in the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka which is scheduled to start at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo from Thursday.
The Karnataka lad missed out the opening encounter due to fever but will be raring to go in Colombo as he sets to make a successful comeback in international cricket after a long injury lay off which prevented him from taking part in the IPL, Champions Trophy and also the ODI series in West Indies.
He was set to make his return in the 1st Test before being ruled out due to the flu. Abhinav Mukund grabbed the opportunity with both hands and scored a composed 81 in the 2nd essay but the southpaw will be making way for Rahul who is definitely India’s 1st choice opener in the team. Shikhar Dhawan who smashed a sensational 190 of a mere 166 deliveries will look to carry on his good form and make life difficult for Murali Vijay once he returns.
Rahul has been out of action since the Test series against Australia which the hosts won narrowly by a 2-1 margin. Rahul played a pivotal role in the series outcome and smashed 6 fifties in the series. He battled his way through shoulder pain and scored some vital runs for his team when it mattered the most.
Rahul then flew to London and underwent a surgery before returning to India and going to the Chinnaswamy to support his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore during the IPL. Meanwhile, Abhinav Mukund will feel unlucky to be missing out in the 2nd Test despite scoring a fluent 81 in the 2nd essay.
Rahul will surely look to get his rhythm back from the very first ball he faces and will look to get India off to a good start. He is one of the 3 Indian batsmen to have scored centuries in all 3 formats of the game. Rahul smashed a sensational century against West Indies at the USA and almost threatened to chase down the mammoth target of 245 runs set by the Windies in 20 overs before finally falling short by a mere solitary run.