KL Rahul opens up after not being named in India squad for tour of Zimbabwe, says 'I want to clarify some things...'

India opening batsman KL Rahul is going through one of the worst phases of his cricketing career. It is not that the right-hand batsman is not able to score runs but things happening off the field is not letting him make comeback into the national squad. On Saturday, BCCI announced the Indian squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour where the Men in Blue will be playing three-match ODI series. Shockingly, Rahul was not named in the squad as he is still recovering from Covid-19. After being snubbed for the ZIM series KL issued a statement responding why he has not been picked in the squad. 

______ pic.twitter.com/2ULENT5Puk — K L Rahul (@klrahul) July 30, 2022

"Hey guys. I wanted to clarify a couple of things about my health and fitness. My surgery in June was successful, and I had begun training with the hope of returning to national duty for the team’s tour of West Indies. Unfortunately, as I was nearing a return to full fitness, I tested positive for Covid-19. This naturally pushed things back by a couple of weeks, but I aim to recover as quickly as possible and be available for selection as soon as I can," Rahul's statement read. 

Rahul was named in the T20 squad for the West Indies series but he was ruled out a day before the 1st T20 due to Covid, being replaced by Sanju Samson. He was expected to make it to the squad for the Zimbabwe series but the sources have revealed that the reason Rahul is not a part of the India squad is his groin injury. Rahul had undergone an operation for it in Germany and was looking to come back to match fitness at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. However, Rahul has not been able to recover fully from the injury, say sources. 

With Rahul not there, Shikhar Dhawan has been named as the captain of the side. Dhawan also led India in the 3 ODIs vs West Indies which Indian clean swept. Pacer Deepak Chahar's comeback is also good news for India as he was taking a long time to recover from the series of injuries he got. India will play Zimbabwe in three ODIs from August 18 to 22 in Harare. Soon after the Zimbabwe series concludes, Indian cricketers will head to UAE to take part in the Asia Cup, where they are the defending champions. 

Checkout the India squad for Zimbabwe series below

Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar.

India Tour of Zimbabwe Schedule

August 18: IND vs ZIM 1st ODI at Harare

August 18: IND vs ZIM 2nd ODI at Harare

August 18: IND vs ZIM 3rd ODI at Harare