Karnataka opening batsman KL Rahul was ruled out of India's upcoming tour of Bangladesh as he is yet to recover from dengue.
KL Rahul was picked in the Indian squad for the one-off Test match against Bangladesh, starting on Saturday, 10 June. The team management is yet to name Rahul's replacement for this tour.
It is highly unlikely that the management would name any other player as they already have a talented pool of batsmen like Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha and skipper Virat Kohli.
Rahul made his Test debut against Australia replacing Shikhar Dhawan in Melbourne in the Boxing Day Test match, when India was touring down under. He could not impress in his first Test as he got out on a low scores in both the innings, but he scored a brilliant century alongside Virat Kohli in Sydney in the final Test match right after the new year. His impressive show in that series against Australia had earned him a place in the squad for Bangladesh tour.
"KL Rahul is still recovering from his illness so he will not be a part of the team to Bangladesh," the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur told the reporters on Saturday after the 23-year-old was declared unfit for the tour.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh also have some injury concerns as their skipper Mushfiqur Rahim has sustained a finger injury during the Pakistan Test series and is yet to recover. He might give away his keeping gloves to the youngster Litton Das instead. Mahmudullah has also been ruled out from the India series due to a fracture. Bangladesh's One-Day International (ODI) captain Mashrafe Mortaza has also sustained minor injuries from a road accident while travelling to Sher-e-Bangla Stadium for a practice session.
Team India will leave for Bangladesh on Monday, 8 June, from Kolkata. Currently, they are having a training camp and all the players also had to undergo a fitness test ahead of the tour on Saturday. India will play a one-off Test match starting from 10 June at Fatullah, followed by three ODIs; all of them will be played in Mirpur Stadium.
