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India's wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul has been deemed fit as per the latest media reports and is all set to board the flight from Chennai to Mumbai to gear up for the UK tour starting next month. Notably, the player's selection for India's upcoming outing was subjected to fitness clearance and now that he is fit, he can join the team in Mumbai to stay there in hard quarantine of 14 days before flying for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and the following five-match Test series against England.
Apart from Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, who also had to be fit to fly for England tour, has tested negative for coronavirus and will join the squad. Talking about Rahul, the Punjab Kings skipper had underwent surgery for acute appendicitis on May 3 during his stint with the IPL side in the 2021 edition, which eventually got postponed indefinitely.
Rahul's Test record and form
Rahul has played 36 Test matches for India scoring 2006 runs at an average of 34.58 with a highest score of 199. He has five centuries to his name in the format. He last played a Test match for India in September 2019. Though Rahul has been struggling with his batting form at the international level in the recent years, his performance in IPL in the past four seasons has been just opposite to that.
In the 2018 edition, Rahul was the third highest run-scorer at the mega event, while in the following edition, he got the second spot. In 2020 IPL, Rahul won the Orange Cap and even in midway of IPL 2021, he was the second leading run-scorer. However, given the way Rishabh Pant has performed, especially in Tests for India, it is very tough for Rahul to get a chance in the longest format of the game.
India’s complete squad for WTC final
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).