Senior opener KL Rahul has been left out of the India squad which will travel to Zimbabwe for an ODI series next month after aggravating his hamstring injury, a development which could potentially jeopardise his T20 World Cup chances.
India will play 3 ODIs in Zimbabwe on August 18, 20 and 22. Off-spinner Washington Sundar, who has made a stellar start to his English county career with Lancashire is back in the squad along with seamer Deepak Chahar after successful completion of his rehabilitation following hamstring and back injuries.
Chahar has not played competitive cricket for five months now and also missed the 2022 IPL season.
"KL Rahul has recovered from COVID-19 but his hamstring injury seem to have resurfaced. He was supposed to be picked for Zimbabwe but now one can't put a date on his comeback," a senior BCCI source privy to development told PTI on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have all been rested from the tour as ODIs aren't top priority for the side with less than three months left for the World T20.
"Virat had spoken to selectors that he would be available from the Asia Cup onwards. The first team players will hardly get rest from Asia Cup till end of World T20. Hence this is a two-week window after Windies tour when they can rest," the source said.
