Former batter Mohammad Kaif has advised the Indian cricket team management to be careful of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer who recently re-joined the Indian team after long injury lay-offs. Iyer played in the group-stage clashes against Pakistan and Nepal after recovering from a back injury. Rahul is yet to play a game after receiving a fitness test from NCA.
India missed the services of the two batters in recent times but their return is a big boost for them ahead of the ODI World Cup. However, the duo needs to find their rhythm quickly as there is not much time left for the mega ICC event.
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Kaif gave the example of Jasprit Bumrah who was cleared to play by NCA earlier this year but sustained the injury again which delayed his comeback, and advised the BCCI to manage Rahul and Iyer’s workload well.
“India have seen what happened with Jasprit Bumrah where he was cleared to play by the NCA but then got injured again. So they will need to be careful with Iyer and Rahul and check on how much they need to play and when they need to take breaks.
Talking about India’s indoor training session on Thursday, Kaif suggested that the head coach and trainers were there to track the duo’s work rate in the nets.
“You don’t want to give them too much load before the match begins. That’s why Rahul Dravid and the trainers are present there,” he added.
Meanwhile, referring Iyer and Rahul as the backbone of the Indian middle-order, Kaif suggested that they both should play in the upcoming Asia Cup Super 4 matches to get some game time.
“Rahul Dravid will know that both (Rahul and Iyer) are the backbone of the Indian middle order and that they will need game time. Ishan played really well, and that’s good because there’s healthy competition in the team,” he added.
The former India star wants India to bat Rahul at the number 5 position where he did well before getting injured.
“However, if an in-form player sits out, then it’s not a problem because Dravid will want to see Rahul bat at No.5. He has good numbers at No. 5, and you will want him and Iyer to get game time and have that form when they play the first World Cup game against Australia,” he added.
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