The newly-appointed head coach of Team India Ravi Shastri, who is sharing a friendly bond with current national side skipper Virat Kohli, revealed the management is having a close eye on the fit-again KL Rahul.
“We are watching him very closely and he is getting better by the day,” Shastri was quoted as saying by PTI.
Interestingly, the Karnataka-born batsman Rahul has returned to nets, in a bit to put all his effort to make himself match-fit, as Shastri during the media gathering in Colombo reiterated the promising right-handed prospect in Tests, has shown quality improvement owing to the health.
“So we have to be very careful how we treat him,” Shastri added.
However, the 55-year-old Mumbai-born Shastri went on to say that opening batsman Rahul has gone through a lot of hardship after being hospitalized, as speedy recovery is taking place.
“He’s doing good. He went through some tough times and he was in the hospital for 2-3 days. Obviously, it has taken a lot out of him,” Shastri added.
Earlier, the 25-year-old Rahul missed out during the first Test of three-match series against Sri Lanka after suffering from a viral fever, as the visitors convincingly claimed the first Test by 304 runs in the fourth Test.
Ahead of the second Test which is scheduled from August 3 at Sinhalese Sports Club (SCC) in Colombo, the visiting captain Kohli and coach Shastri has a lot of home work to do.
In order to pick an opener owing to the strength, the duo including team leader and a chief coach are supposed to have a tough task on an offing during the pick and choose option prior to the second Test.
“When I have good bench strength, it is very good. When there is competition for places even better because that’s healthy competition and a good headache to have,” Shastri remarked.
While throwing some light on the competition, the cricketer-turned-commentator and concurrent chief coach Shastri has urged the players are supposed to be fit to take the team to a new high as a competitive unit.
“It is very good but ideally you want your core team to be fit and on the park as often as possible,” Shastri maintained.
In the first Test, the Tamil Nadu-based Abhinav Mukund batted alongside Shikhar Dhawan, as the explosive left-handed batsman struck his Test career best of 190 in 168 balls; before Mukund registered his Test best of 81 after scoring just 12 runs in his first innings.
Shastri, who was the Team India’s director in 2014, is in favour of quality bench strength and competition while expressing his satisfaction over the players put in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium which was scheduled from July 26.