The Indian Cricket team touched down in Sri Lanka on Wednesday ahead of their Asia Cup 2023 campaign. The Men in Blue arrived in Kandy and received a warm response from the hosts. Rohit Sharma & Co will begin their tournament with the IND vs PAK clash on September 2 in Pallekele.
India has 2 days of training at Kandy before the match against Pakistan. Rohit and Co reached Colombo in the afternoon, before heading to Kandy. At the airport, many including Hardik Pandya signed autographs for the fans. At Kandy, fans flocked to see some of the biggest superstars. The arriving stars were welcomed with grand festivities at the hotel. Traditional Sri Lankan folk music greeted the Indian Cricket Team, while Virat Kohli lit a ceremonial lamp.
The entire Indian squad has touched down in Sri Lanka, barring KL Rahul who is still recovering from injury. The 31-year-old is at the NCA, trying to work his fitness. He will participate in match simulations and hence will miss on India’s two opening clashes i.e India vs Pakistan (IND vs PAK) and India vs Nepal (IND vs NEP). Sanju Samson, named as reserve, has travelled to Sri Lanka.
At the pre-departure news conference, Dravid stated, “KL has had a good week with us, playing well and progressing really well, but he will be unavailable for the first part for the Kandy leg of the trip.”
“While we are on the road for the next three days, the NCA will take care of him. On September 4th, we will reevaluate, and we’ll proceed from there. However, things are going well. For the first two games, he won’t be available,” Dravid continued.
India will train in the next two days before the gamne against Pakistan. The ‘hosts’ meanwhile have already been in action, having faced Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023 opener on Wednesday.
