Ahead of the Asia Cup and World Cup, the Indian cricket team management is eagerly looking forward to know the fitness status of some key stars. The biggest name among them all is pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who will be returning to action in the T20I series against Ireland, starting Friday. But Bumrah is not the only one, whose absence has been hurting India ahead of the mega events. The like of Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are among the big names who have been missing from the scene for far too long.

While Pant met with an accident late last year, Rahul and Iyer has injuries which ruled them out for a long duration. In their absence, the Indian team has been experimenting with the top-order, middle-order and the wicketkeeper’s slots. However, the stability is still lacking.

On Monday, Pant posted a video on his Instagram stories with the captain: “Loved watching live cricket after long time @klrahul @shreyasiyer96”

KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer in the practice match.

Rishabh Pant watching them! pic.twitter.com/aDWVc52zOm

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 14, 2023

While it is not known when Rahul and Iyer will make a return to competitive cricket, former India opener Aakash Chopra made an interesting observation on Rahul. “At this point in time, if KL Rahul becomes available, I don’t see him [Samson] in the World Cup team. I don’t think he will be seen in the Asia Cup team as well,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Chopra, however, stressed on the fact that Samson is only 28, and that he’ll have plenty of opportunities to showcase his talent in the future.

“Samson is only 28 years old. He does have time on his side. It’s not the end of the world. You have the T20 World Cup next year. Plenty of cricket will be played after that too,” he added.