India captain Virat Kohli has confirmed that KL Rahul will get his place back in the playing XI for the second Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo.
Rahul missed the opening Test due to viral fever. Speaking about him, Kohli was quoted as saying to the press, "KL has been our established opener. So, I think one of the openers will have to make way for KL because what, he has done in the past two years, has been very solid and he deserves to come back and start fresh in Test cricket again.”
On who out of Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund will have to miss out, he added, "We have a team meeting after the practice and we can clarify more after the meeting but according to me, KL is definitely coming back at the top order.”
Praising Rahul, the Indian captain added, "He played the practice game as well and he looked really solid. He has batted really well for us in the last couple of seasons. As I said it's very important to make him feel this (opening) is his spot and it won't be changed because of unfortunate events that happen outside of the playing field or the injuries. He has really struck out of that phase. It's been hard for him," said Kohli.
"It's very important to make him feel secure because he has given us the big performances when the team has required most. So, he is a guy that needs to be backed and we, as a team, and me, as a captain, back him 100 percent," he added.
--By A Cricket Correspondent