KL Rahul's fitness issues would be sweating Lucknow Super Giants: Aakash Chopra

The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 is less than two months away and all 10 franchises would be gearing up for the gala tournament. Lucknow Super Giants, one of the two new franchises, will be a team to watch out for as they formed a formidable squad at the mega auction earlier this month. However, fitness issues of their skipper KL Rahul is something that can worry the team management.

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra is of the same opinion. Rahul sustained a hamstring injury while fielding during the second ODI against West Indies earlier this month. He subsequently got ruled out for the third ODI and the succeeding T20I series. He isn’t a part of India’s upcoming T20I and Test series against Sri Lanka either.

Notably, all-rounder Washington Sundar has also been fighting with injuries lately. While he sustained a fracture in his finger ahead of the second leg of IPL 2021, he also contracted COVID-19 twice. Although he played the ODI series against West Indies, he had to give the T20I leg a miss.

There is an issue with KL Rahul’s fitness: Aakash Chopra

“KL Rahul and Washington Sundar have been ruled out for the entire Sri Lankan tour. The questions do come up. There is an issue with KL Rahul’s fitness and Lucknow must be sweating. For Washington Sundar, it’s been so long and an off-spinner getting injured so often?” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“He had Covid then got injured, then again injured – we haven’t seen him play in the last eight months. He got injured before the T20 World Cup and since we have hardly seen him play – just a couple of matches here and there. Now he’s disappeared from the scene again and has picked up a long-term injury,” he added.

Notably, the Lucknow-based franchise picked KL Rahul for a whooping INR 17 crore in the draft ahead of the auction. As was sensational for Punjab Kings in the last four seasons, expectations are sky high from him. Hence, the franchise would want Rahul to get fit ahead of the season.