Asia Cup 2022: Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardena explains why India opener KL Rahul is a concern for Rahul Dravid and co ahead of Asia Cup

Asia Cup 2022: KL Rahul lack of cricket: KL Rahul has been a wonderful servant for Indian cricket for sometime now, especially in the limited overs format. The India opener is making a comeback into the Asia Cup squad after his sports hernia surgery. Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardena is a bit worried with KL Rahul’s lack of cricket in recent months. Follow Asia Cup 2022 Live Updates with InsideSport.IN 

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“That (Rahul’s lack of cricket) would be a concern for India,” Jayawardena said in the recent episode of ICC review.  “He has been out for a little while since the IPL, so having game time is quite crucial especially out there in the middle.”

Asia Cup 2022: Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardena explains why India opener KL Rahul is a concern for Rahul Dravid and co ahead of Asia Cup

There is no doubt about the talent and the skill that KL Rahul brings in abundance to the current Indian set up. He has been a prolific run scorer for the Indian team, but he has not played any cricket post the IPL, which is a concern.

During the IPL, he was in ominous form, scoring in excess of 600 runs. But he has to start altogether when he takes to the field in the Asia Cup. It is not going to be any easy. With the player having missed a number of matches, he needs to gain that form and confidence in order to be an asset to Team India.

After the IPL 2022, he had sports hernia surgery in Germany around mid June. He was also set to be picked for the West Indies series, but he contracted Covid-19 after his recovery from suregry. It meant he could not feature in the West Indies series, so the Asia Cup is going to mark his return.

Ready to roar again!💥#KLRahul | #TeamIndia | @klrahul pic.twitter.com/RpTNjyJBLG

— Kunal Yadav (@kunaalyaadav) August 6, 2022

Jayawardena is of the opinion that he needs more game time. Especially with the T20 World Cup in October, it is important for Rahul to get some good time. At the max, he has just three series, including the Asia Cup before the T20 World Cup. The other two are the home series against Australia and South Africa.

“The sooner he can get some game time and get that confidence back, is always going to help him, as well as the national team,” added Jayawardena.