Out from 5th Test vs England, KL Rahul gears up for IPL 2024 with Nicholas Pooran named LSG vice-captain

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the updated squad for the 5th and final Test match against England at Dharamsala's HPCA Stadium from March 7. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter who missed the cricketing action after the first Test due to an injury has been ruled out of the final game as well.

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"Mr KL Rahul, whose participation in the final IDFC First Bank Test was subject to fitness, has been ruled out of the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring him and coordinating with specialists in London for further management of his issue," said BCCI in a statement.

Soon after this announcement, Rahul's Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), posted a photo of the player along with former West Indies white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran. While Rahul will remain captain of his franchise, Pooran, who joined LSG last year for a whopping amount of INR 16 crore, will be the vice-captain.

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Pooran's appointment is interesting, given that Krunal Pandya led the Lucknow franchise in six games in Rahul's absence in 2023 when the latter was ruled out for the second half of the tournament due to an injury.

Regarding LSG's performance in the IPL, they had a really good tournament in the first two years of their participation. However, with the appointment of Justin Langer as the head coach and a few new additions at the auction, namely Devdutt Padikkal, Shivam Mavi, David Willey, M Siddharth, and Shamar Joseph (replacing Mark Wood), LSG will look like a much more rounded side.

Lucknow Super Giants squad for IPL 2024:

KL Rahul (c), Nicholas Pooran (vc), Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ayush Badoni, Devdutt Padikkal, Ashton Turner, David Willey, Shamar Joseph, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan, Amit Mishra, Yudhvir Charak, Prerak Mankad, Shivam Mavi, Yash Thakur, Arshin Kulkarni, M Siddharth, Arshad Khan