File photo of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer© Twitter
The Indian cricket team ended the tour of West Indies on a disappointing note, losing the 5-match T20I series 2-3. The result highlighted many problems in the team, especially in the batting unit as fans and experts shared their concerns ahead of the Aisa Cup and the World Cup. India head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that mistakes were made and the fact that there remain many gaps in the squad that need to be plugged. As the Asia Cup remains just a couple of weeks away from its start, Dravid gave a positive piece of news, saying some 'injured stars' are set to make a comeback.
The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer have been out for long. While Bumrah is set to make a comeback on the tour of Ireland, starting August 18, Iyer and Rahul have reportedly begun net practice.
At the post-match press conference, Dravid said that there's a camp scheduled in Bengaluru ahead of the Asia Cup where the injured stars could prepare themselves for the continental event.
"We a have few guys coming back from injuries in any case. We have to give them opportunities to play (in Asia Cup). We have a one week camp in Bengaluru from August 23 for the Asia Cup. We will take it as it comes," he said.
The likes of Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mukesh Kumar made their debuts in the T20I series against West Indies and Dravid was quite impressed by them.
"I thought all the three guys who made debuts for us in this series, stood up. Yashasvi Jasiwal in the fourth game, I thought he played a very good innings. He's shown us what he can do in the IPL and it was nice to see him replicate that in international cricket.
"Tilak Varma, I thought, was really good, to come in in the middle order. He came in sometimes in very difficult situations. But every time, he plays with a lot of intent, plays very positively, looks to move the game along, fielded brilliantly throughout the series, showed us he can bowl one or two overs as well.
"So really positive signs from Tilak and to have that left-hander in the middle order does make a huge difference against some of the attacks that we've been playing against." Prior to his T20 debut, Mukesh also played his first game for India in the Test and 50-over format.
"He debuted in all the formats in this series and I thought he acquitted himself really well. His ability to bowl at the death, sometimes he was called upon to bowl against some really big powerful hard hitters and he acquitted himself well for someone who was just playing his fourth or fifth game.
"So I think there's some real good positives in the guys who made their debuts for us and hopefully they take confidence from the series and keep learning as they go forward."
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