India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023: Why KL Rahul playing for Shreyas Iyer against Pakistan today?

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India are taking on Pakistan in the Super Four clash of Asia Cup 2023 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The two giants of cricket are in quest for the Asia Cup Final spots and are meeting for the second time in this tournament, after the first match got washed out in Kandy.

India vs Pakistan: Why Shreyas Iyer is not playing?

But in this match, India have been forced to make a change as Shreyas Iyer has been left out of the team for a recurring injury. Iyer returned to the field after a back surgery, suffered a back spasm during the warm-up session prior to the India-Pakistan Super Four match at the Asia Cup, causing him to withdraw from the game.

KL Rahul replaces Iyer

KL Rahul, who was also recovering from an injury, was included in the lineup at the last moment.

During the coin toss, Rohit Sharma regarded the change as a "compulsory substitution" for the team. This was indicated on the team list where Iyer was originally listed as No. 4 and Rahul as the 13th player. Prior to releasing the list, these positions were interchanged.

Rahul and Shreyas both have been suffering from injury issues and were not in action for a long time. Iyer had a back issue earlier this year and underwent surgery for that as well. But it looks like his injury has recurred again, which is obviously a worrying sign for India.

Shreyas played the first two matches for India in the Asia Cup this year. He scored 14 off 9 balls against Pakistan in the first match, then didn't get an opportunity to bat against Nepal.

KL Rahul himself was injured during the IPL and has only returned to the Asia Cup squad after extensive rehab at NCA.