Sri Lanka Vs India 2017: KL Is Definitely Coming Back At The Top Order: Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli, on Wednesday (August 2), made it clear that opening batsman KL Rahul would be a part of the playing eleven for the second Test against Sri Lanka starting on Thursday at Colombo. Team India has made it a policy to allow the set players to return to the team straightaway after an injury and Kohli has confirmed the same rule will be applied with Rahul too despite Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund doing well in the series-opener at Galle.

Rahul has been on the sidelines since the last Test against Australia in March. Afterwards, he had a surgery for his injured shoulder and was forced to miss the Indian Premier League and the Champions Trophy. The Karnataka batsman had returned to the team after the four-month injury layoff and looked in good touch in the two-day warm-up game, scoring a 58-ball 54. However, a viral fever quashed his hopes of playing at Galle.

But he has now recovered and Kohli said the 25-year old is all set to return to the team.

“KL Rahul has been our established opener. One of the openers will have to make way for KL. What he has done in the past two years for us is very solid and he deserves to come back and start fresh in Test cricket,” Kohli said in the pre-match conference.

At the same time, Kohli kept the cards close to his chest when asked about the team combination for the penultimate match of the series.

“We have a team meeting after the practice and we can clarify more after the meeting but according to me, KL is definitely coming back at the top order,” he said.

“There is a lot of grass. When you have big squad there are a lot of possibilities. We don’t like to announce anything a day prior. It’s sort of a surprise for opposition. Looking on the conditions we can go with anyone. Everyone is prepared to take the field,” he added.

India are leading the three-match series after a crushing 304-run win at Galle and would look to wrap it up by winning the upcoming match. Speaking about the wicket, Kohli said a result is the most-likely outcome.

“Last time around as well we thought it was a great wicket for Test cricket. Batsmen had to apply themselves to get runs, bowlers were in the game throughout. So it is a wicket that you will get a result on and that excites us. That is something we look forward to as a team. This is the kind of wicket we like to play on where we have to chance to make an impact on the game throughout,” he said.