KL Rahul’s career has had many starts and stops due to injury. Last year, he missed the second half of IPL 2023 and only returned to cricket in September. He then enjoyed success in the Asia Cup, the World Cup, and the India vs South Africa Test series, but got injured once again in late January.
KL Rahul subsequently missed four Tests in February–March and was even uncertain for the IPL 2024 season. Now coming back after nearly two months, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper accepted that injuries have become his ‘friend’ but that doesn’t stop him from achieving his goal and striving for success. After losing the toss for the RR vs LSG match, he said:
“I’m happy to be back on the field; injury has become my best friend over the last couple of years, but it makes you hungry and perform much better when you’re back.”
On the pitch & team combination
“We would have batted first as well, but the wicket does look good. QdK, Pooran, Stoinis and Naveen-ul-Haq are our four overseas options. The focus is on this game for us at the moment,” he further added.
LSG Playing XI
KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Devdutt Padikkal, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur
Impact Substitutes: Deepak Hooda, Mayank Yadav, Amit Mishra, Prerak Mankad, K Gowtham