IND vs ENG: KL Rahul to be rested as he opts for a break from cricket

KL Rahul, who was performing well in the Indian middle order for the Indian Team in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, is likely to not be included in the team for the IND vs ENG series. Rahul has opted for a break from cricket following a physical and mental taxing.

India is now fully prepared for the Champions Trophy 2025. After playing red ball Test matches continuously for almost four months, now Team India is going to play white ball limited overs matches for the next five months.

Also Read: Mohammed Shami may return to Indian squad for the forthcoming England series and Champions Trophy

The Indian top order completely failed on the Australia tour. Therefore, the team management is now taking bold steps. Team India will test its preparations against England from January 22. Keeping this in mind, the team is also to be announced.

Rahul will be available for CT 2025 selection

India's experienced batsman KL Rahul is likely to get rest from the IND vs ENG white-ball series starting from January 22 in Kolkata. The England team will play a five-match T20 International and three ODI series on this tour of India.

However, Rahul will be available for selection for the Champions Trophy starting from February 19. India will play all its matches in Dubai while the remaining matches will be in the host country Pakistan. 

KL decided to stay out of domestic cricket

Indian batsmen performed disappointingly in the BGT series in Australia but Rahul was one of the few batsmen who scored runs. He was the third highest run-scorer for India with 276 runs in 10 innings at an average of 30.66.

To make a place in the Champions Trophy squad, Rahul will have to face the challenge of wicketkeeper batsmen like Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. Although he has not been a part of India's T20 team recently, but in ODIs he is India's number one wicketkeeper. 

After returning from Australia, Rahul had decided to stay out of the Karnataka team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts, which has started in Vadodara from Thursday.

Also Read: Indian players to play Vijay Hazare Trophy Knockouts after returning from Australia tour

IND vs ENG: Schedule