India opener KL Rahul doubtful for first Sri Lanka Test

Galle, July 24: Injury-prone India opener KL Rahul is down with fever, two days before the start of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Wednesday (July 26).

Rahul scored a fine half century in a tour match in Colombo, his first competitive game in close to three months due to an injury lay-off. He is now down with fever and did not travel with the team from Colombo yesterday (July 23).

He also missed today's (July 24) practice session here, making him a doubtful starter for the series opener. If he misses out, Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund are likely to open for India.

The team's other regular opener, Murali Vijay, too pulled out of the series at the last minute saying he had not fully recovered from a wrist injury.

After making a solid 54 against Sri Lanka Board President's XI in Moratuwa last week, Rahul had said that he was nervous about his fitness.

"You know that you are physically fit and you have done everything that you can, worked really hard, you are feeling stronger, you are feeling fitter," Rahul told bcci.tv.

"But the mind always tells you what if it happens again, what if you have to go through the same grind for three months, what if your shoulder is not ready, what if you [have] come back early?"

PTI