"We want him to play all games" Rohit Sharma confirms KL Rahul will play in 1st IND vs BAN test

The India captain hopes to bring the best out of KL Rahul in test cricket.

Indian cricket team test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma has confirmed that KL Rahul will play in the opening test match against the Bangladesh Cricket team.

The opening fixture of the two-match IND vs BAN test series will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from September 19. The second test match will be played at the Green Park in Kanpur from September 27.

The 32-year-old Rahul has been a key cog at times for the Indian cricket team in test cricket. The right-handed batter has scored 2863 runs in 50 matches, including eight centuries and 14 half-centuries till now.

Recently, Rahul was seen playing in the Duleep Trophy 2024 tournament, where he scored a crucial half-century for India A against India B in Bengaluru.

The veteran batter played his last test match against England (first test) at home earlier this year. In the Hyderabad test, Rahul played a fighting knock of 86 runs off 123 deliveries. Unfortunately, he was ruled out of the rest of the four tests of that series due to an injury.

I hope KL Rahul continues from where he left off: Rohit Sharma

Rohit highlighted that KL Rahul has done well since his comeback and backed the right-hander to have a successful test career. Rohit confirmed Rahul’s place in India’s XI for the Chennai test.

“We want KL Rahul to play all games, we want to bring out the best in him, he got a 100 in SA, 80 vs England but unfortunately he got injured. The guy has got the talent, its important we give him clear messages. I hope he continues from where he left off,” Rohit Sharma said at the press conference in Chennai.

It is understood that middle-order batters Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel are likely to be excluded from the playing XI for the first test match against Bangladesh.

Both cricketers had a brilliant debut test series against England earlier this year. Despite performing well, Jurel and Sarfaraz could be benched against Bangladesh as Rahul and Pant return to the squad.

India vs Bangladesh test series 2024: Squads of both teams

India squad for the first test: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.

Bangladesh squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Jaker Ali Anik

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