KL Rahul, undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, will join his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise in two or three days. The skipper of the Lucknow Super Giants team KL Rahul, who has been out of cricket since the first Test against England in January, has been cleared to take part in the IPL.
If KL Rahul can captain LSG to IPL title then…- Justin Langer’s message to LSG’s skipper
KL Rahul will be linking up with Lucknow Super Giants after their practice game on Wednesday due to a flight delay, said the team’s head coach Justin Langer, who also stressed upon doing well for the franchise could result in him landing a spot in India’s squad for Men’s T20 World Cup.
Rahul suffering a right quadriceps injury meant he missed the entire India-England series after the Hyderabad Test in January. There’s been speculation over Rahul either opening the batting or play in the middle order, though not immediately be a wicket-keeper, for LSG, with an eye on making the cut for India’s squad in the Men’s T20 World Cup in June.
Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer believes that skipper KL Rahul can automatically increase his chances of making it to India’s T20 2024 World Cup squad by playing well in the franchise in IPL 2024. Rahul is yet to make a comeback in the T20I setup for India after the 2022 World Cup loss and has a stiff competition in the wicketkeeper-category with the likes of Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Jitesh Sharma and now even Rishabh Pant to the mix.
Speaking to the reporters in the pre-press conference, here’s what Justin Langer has to say about KL Rahul’s and Ravi Bishnoi’s chances in India’s T20I World Cup squad :
“If KL can captain LSG to the IPL title, that means he would’ve captained well, batted well and kept wickets well. The message for players like KL and Bishi (Bishnoi) would be that the more they concentrate on doing well for LSG, their chances (of T20 World Cup) will increase.”
With India’s top-order already stacked with plenty of options, Rahul could bat in the middle order for LSG to strengthen his claim. The Super Giants can easily do that, especially after having acquired the services of Devdutt Padikkal in the trade window.