Former India head coach Ravi Shastri is not in favour of playing KL Rahul in the Asia Cup as it would be asking for “too much” from a player who has not played competitive cricket for close to four months.
Both Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA in Bangalore.
“When you are talking of a player who has not played and is recovering from injury. To think of him in the playing XI of Asia Cup, you are asking little too much of the player himself.
“And then you are talking (about) wicketkeeping when the guy has come from a knee injury, the range of movement, things like (that). That is a no, no straight,” Shastri told Star Sports during a panel discussion.
He also warned against rushing back players. “You can’t rush players back from injuries. You did that with Jasprit Bumrah, not once, twice but thrice and he has been out for 14 months now.”
Shastri would like to see Tilak Varma in the middle order in place of Rahul. He wants three left-handers in the top-seven, including Ravindra Jadeja.
“There are three other positions where I think two left-handers have to come in. Now, this is where the selectors’ role comes in because they are watching. They know who’s the guy who’s hot. If Tilak Varma is hot, bring him in. If you think (Yashasvi) Jaiswal is hot, bring him in.
“I am very impressed with Tilak and ... I would look in that direction.”
Written with PTI inputs
