SLvIND: Focus on Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul in warm-up game against President’s XI

Back in the scheme of things, Rohit Sharma and fit-again KL Rahul will be aiming to get as much batting time as possible in the two-day warm-up game against President’s XI starting here tomorrow, ahead of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka. Rohit, who last played a Test match against New Zealand in October last year, did not feature in the Test series against England, Bangladesh and Australia during the home season.

The Mumbai batsman underwent a surgery after injuring his thigh during the ODI series against New Zealand. Although he has not played a first-class game since his recovery, he featured in the Indian Premier League and made a comeback into the national side for the Champions Trophy, where he amassed more than 300 runs. But the national selectors specifically rested Rohit for the West Indies tour in order to keep him fresh for the upcoming long season.

Rahul, who had a run of six fifties in seven innings in the Australia series, is also back in the squad after recuperating from the shoulder surgery that ruled him out of the Indian Premier League, the Champions Trophy and the West Indies series. And both the batsmen will looking at the practice …read more