Pooran said at the toss that the team management wanted Rahul to ease back into action because he was returning from an injury. He missed the last four Tests of the home series against England before the IPL because of a quadriceps injury; he had missed several matches of IPL 2023 after hurting his quadriceps during a game and undergoing surgery for the injury.
With LSG choosing to bat first against Kings in Lucknow, Rahul will play a part in the first innings before likely being subbed off for a bowler in the second innings. He had kept wickets for them in their previous game and one of Quinton de Kock or Nicholas Pooran will keep wickets against Kings.
Rahul had top-scored with 58 off 44 balls for LSG in their season opener against Rajasthan Royals on March 24, a fixture they lost by 20 runs. Rahul’s innings came under scrutiny for his strike-rate of 131.81 in a chase of 194 but the LSG coach Justin Langer had come out in his defence.
“I am not gonna lose one second’s sleep over KL Rahul. He is a beautiful player. he’s an outstanding player,” Langer had said. “There’s a reason he’s had so much success for India and I I’m blessed to have him in our team, not only as an opening batsman or a batsman and wicketkeeper, but also as that captain. He is so calm. He’s a wonderful person. People talk to me about those things, but I’m not losing a second’s sleep over KL Rahul. I feel blessed to have him in our team. He’s that good a player.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo