KL Rahul ruled out from the first Test against Sri Lanka

Indian opener KL Rahul has been ruled out from the first Test which is scheduled to begin on July 26 in Galle. Rahul, who had undergone a shoulder surgery, was out of action for almost four months. He regained fitness ahead of the Sri Lanka series and was subsequently picked by the selectors.

Rahul did not travel with the team to Galle

He warmed up for the series by making a brisk 54 in the 2-day practice game against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI. Rahul looked in good touch in his first competitive game since the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the last week of March. He fell ill after this game and stayed put in Colombo whilst the rest of the team traveled to Galle. According to reports, Rahul is down with fever and was fighting against time to recover before the start of the first Test.

Just two days before the Test, Rahul was advised further precautionary rest to recover from the viral fever, according to a tweet by Cricbuzz. He is expected to be fit for the second test which kicks off on August 3 at the SSC Ground in Colombo.

Before getting injured, Rahul had sealed his spot as an opener, scoring 6 half-centuries in 7 innings against Australia. The Karnataka batsman had also cemented his position in the ODIs and T20s but will now have to fight to regain his spot.

Dhawan-Mukund set to open at Galle

With Murali Vijay already sidelined for this series due to an injury, the comeback duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund are set to open the innings for India in the first Test. Both left-handers played just one game apiece during India’s 13 Test home season. This is a perfect opportunity for the pair to make a statement in the absence of the first choice openers.

Dhawan and Mukund played in the warm-up game and recorded scores of 41* and zero respectively.