“Should Have Been Given A Bit Of Time”: Danish Kaneria On KL Rahul’s Selection In India’s Asia Cup 2022 Squad

Former Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria opined that India seemingly rushed KL Rahul back into the national squad straight from injury. Rahul was named in the 15-member India squad for the Asia Cup 2022 tournament despite not having played any cricket since the end of IPL 2022.

Rahul was supposed to lead the Indian team against South Africa at home but suffered a sports hernia on the eve of the first T20I. He went to Germany to have surgery to sort out the groin issue. He returned back to India and began practicing at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

As he was nearing peak fitness, he suffered a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the England tour, and then a bout with Covid-19 put a halt on his tour to the West Indies. This means he will enter the Asia Cup tournament, where he has been named vice-captain as well, with no match practice.

You Shouldn’t Have Rushed Him Into The XI: Danish Kaneria On KL Rahul

former Pakistan leg spinner Danish Kaneria feels that he should have been given a bit more time to recover given his importance to the side for the T20 World Cup 2022.

“Rahul hasn’t played international cricket for a while, yet he has been picked ahead of Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson, who were playing continuously. Whenever a player is back from injury, you shouldn’t rush him into the XI. He should have been given a bit of time to ease into the team as he is an important player for India in the T20 World Cup,” said Danish Kaneria on his YouTube Channel.

Meanwhile, Kaneria was also not happy with BCCI selectors keeping Mohammed Shami out of T20s and thought that Shami should’ve been picked over Avesh Khan for the Asia Cup. It was reported earlier that selectors have seemingly told Shami that he would not be considered for T20Is going forward as he is important to the team in Tests and ODIs and wanted to manage his workload.

“I was worried about their pace bowling because the injuries to Bumrah and Harshal meant that they were ruled out of the Asia Cup. Despite knowing that Avesh Khan can be expensive on the slow tracks in UAE, they have gone ahead with him. I feel Mohammad Shami could have been a much better option,” said the former Pakistan spinner.

India will face Pakistan in their first match of Asia cup on August 28 in Dubai.

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