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NEW DELHI, Aug 24: Former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris on Wednesday said that Indian batter KL Rahul will be ready to go against Pakistan when Men in Blue meet their arch-rivals in the blockbuster Asia Cup clash on August 28. Rahul had to bear an unceremonious time on the sidelines after his tragic injury post-IPL 2022 before he made a comeback to cricket in the recently concluded ODI series in Zimbabwe.
India will be starting its Asia Cup campaign with a high-octane clash against Pakistan on August 28.
His return to the team will provide a major boost to the side for as the team India eye their eight-time Asia Cup victory. Asia Cup 2022 will be played in UAE, starting from August 27 through September 11.
"First of all, with regards to KL Rahul, I wouldn't be worried either. I'd be worried if he'd be facing 5-10 balls each innings but the last one in particular - 46 deliveries I think it was. If that's the case, it means that time in the middle is coming and that means that he will become more and more fluent, game time in the middle? Far more valuable than the nets. So, I expect he'll be ready to go against Pakistan," said Styris on Sports 18 show 'Sports Over The Top'.
Styris reckoned that he is not worried about the returning batter's form and added that the Indian opener will get more momentum and will get back to his old self in time.
"Now, for that one? I'm with you though, I think he's going to go okay. The reason is for that is no Shaheen Afridi, we know that he's out injured, the way he attacks the stumps that is the way you get KL Rahul out. LBW and bowled. The fact that the main man who exposes that weakness is not there. I think KL Rahul has got an opportunity to be the star still, that we know he is because as Saba rightly pointed out, the pedigree is there," he added.
Coming to the Asia Cup, the 15th edition of the tournament will be played in the UAE between six teams (main event). Defending champions India are also the most successful team, having won the trophy seven times. While the last edition of the tournament was held in an ODI format, this edition will feature the T20 format.
The six teams are divided into two groups with India, Pakistan and a qualifying team in Group A; and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan forming Group B. Each team plays the other once in the group stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super 4 round. The top 2 teams from Super 4 will qualify for the final.
India squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan |
