VIZIANAGARAM: Talk of
KL Rahul's return to the Test fold has been doing the rounds here since Sunday, following the arrival of MSK Prasad, chairman of selectors, and selector
Sarandeep Singh. The 24-year-old as expected made his way back into the Indian dressing room in Vizag as the 16th member of the squad for the second Test starting on Tuesday. The selectors were seen having a lengthy chat with Rahul after day's play in the Ranji game between Karna taka and Rajasthan on Monday.
The opening batsman, who scored a fluent 76 in the first innings and a 131-ball 106 for Karnataka on Tuesday, left the Ranji tie during the post lunch session to join his national teammates at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, some 50 km away from the domestic match venue.
"He had an injury in Kanpur, which all of you are aware of," India coach
Anil Kumble said in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. "And since then, he was not available for any of the Tests against New Zealand, nor for the One-dayers. He has recovered now and as per protocol, we wanted him to go and play a first-class match. I think today he got a hundred. In the first innings, he got 70-plus against Rajasthan. Since the match was happening very close to Vizag, it's good to have him in the squad and he is available for selection," Kumble added.
Although the Test team was named for the first two Tests,
Gautam Gambhir's lack of runs in the opening Test could have got the team management thinking about Rahul's inclusion.
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