Hyderabad: KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan had injury concerns and star batter Virat Kohli underwent some medical scans as the Indian cricket team underwent a rigorous match simulation session at the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground in Perth on Friday.
The Indian team is training at the WACA ground ahead of the first of the five Test matches for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, commencing at the Optus Stadium in Perth on November 22.
Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan, who are competing for one slot in the Indian middle order along with Dhruv Jurel, were hit on the elbow and the batters couldn’t complete their simulation session, raising concerns. Rahul could also be considered for the role of an opener if Indian captain Rohit Sharma doesn’t play the first Test match.
Meanwhile, Kohli was taken to the hospital for some medical scans and advice but that did not deter the former Indian captain from taking part in the match simulation and the Delhi-based Kohli did not look in any discomfort during the entire session.
Rahul scored 29 before a delivery from pacer Prasidh Krishna hit his right elbow. Rahul immediately summoned the team’s physio and later walked off, without continuing his match simulation session.
The 32-year-old was not included in India’s playing XI in the Pune and Mumbai Test matches against New Zealand.
Rahul, like Kohli, is also going through a lean patch with his last century coming almost 11 months ago (against South Africa in Centurion) and has only scored twice above 50 in the last nine Test innings.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz was hit on his right elbow while batting in the nets on Friday. A video, shared by Fox Sports Australia, showed Sarfaraz walking off the nets clutching his right elbow and looked visibly in pain.
Sarfaraz has played six Test matches for India and has scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10. In six Test matches, Sarfaraz scored one century (a top score of 150 against New Zealand) and has three scores of 50-plus runs.
If Sarfaraz is selected in the playing XI, it will be his first Test match outside India.
