IND vs BAN: KL Rahul Doubtful For Second Test Against Bangladesh After Sustaining Hand Injury

In case, KL Rahul is not in a condition to play the second Test, it will vacate a spot at the top of the order which could mean a last-minute call to Abhimanyu Easwaran for his Test Debut.

India’s captain KL Rahul attends a practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on December 21, 2022, ahead of their second Test cricket match against Bangladesh.

In what could be a huge blow to Team India ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday (December 22), KL Rahul sustained an injury to his hand while batting at the nets on Wednesday. While the medical staff had to come in to check on him, if the injury is a serious one it will lead to forced changes in the side with Rahul also the captain for the the second Test, in absence of an injured Rohit Sharma.

Moreover, it will vacate a spot at the top of the order which could mean a last-minute call to Abhimanyu Easwaran for his Test Debut. In addition, the management could be forced to look at other leadership candidates with Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin and Rishabh Pant possible names who could be asked to lead if such a situation. While Jasprit Bumrah had led India earlier in the year for a solitary Test, even the speedster is not part of the squad as he is recovering from an injury.

Rahul's injury doesn't look serious: Vikram Rathour

Meanwhile, India's batting coach Vikram Rathour has said that Rahul's injury doesn't look serious. However, he refused to confirm whether he will take the field on Thursday. "It doesn't [look serious]," Rathour said when asked about KL's injurt at the pre-match press conference.

"He seems to be fine. Hopefully he'll be okay. The doctors are looking at it, but hopefully he'll be okay," he added.

Meanwhile, Rathour described India's win in the Chattogram test as a Team effort in which the Men in Blue batted and bowled well.

"They [Bangladesh] are a decent bowling unit without any a doubt. [But] we are really confident with the way our batters have been batting. It was a good Test as a team. We batted well definitely, but we bowled well too," he stated.

"It was a tough surface to get 20 wickets. It was slow and low, especially in the second innings. It was good to see [Cheteshwar] Pujara and [Shubman] Gill get hundreds. It was a good performance overall," the 53-year-old further said.