The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed on Monday that KL Rahul is still not fully fit but was still named in Team India's Asia Cup 2023 squad.
Shreyas Iyer meanwhile, has been declared fully fit and will be available from the first match of the tournament.
Rahul on the other hand, is carrying a niggle but expected to be fully fit by the 2-3rd match of Asia Cup.
Rahul had a surgery on his right thigh a few months ago while Iyer also went under the knife for a back injury.
Rahul last played in the home ODI series against Australia in March this year while Iyer was part of the Border-Gavaskar Tests during the same time.
Agarkar gives update on Rahul & Iyer
"Both are coming off long-term serious injuries. Shreyas has been declared completely fit. Rahul, not his original injury but there's a niggle, which is why Sanju (Samson) is travelling [as a reserve player]," Agarkar said.
"We'll get a report from the physio at some stage but we all expect him to be fit. If not at the start, by the second or third game, but he's on track. Shreyas has been passed fit, which is good news for us," the former India pacer added.
India will begin their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on September 2.
Sanju Samson named reserve player
"We've picked these 18 guys, [World Cup squad] it'll be in and around these guys. Few important guys coming back form injury, hopefully all goes well with them.
"They have a few games now at the Asia Cup. There's a short camp followed by a couple of games before we announce the World Cup squad, but it's quite obvious it'll be around these guys," Agarkar said.
Full Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna.
