KL Rahul declares himself 'absolutely fit' for 1st Australia Test as BCCI physio confirms injury update

India breathed a collective sigh of relief as KL Rahul made his return to the training nets on Sunday, putting to rest any worries about his elbow injury. The batsman was seen in action during India's practice session at the WACA in Perth, expressing his eagerness to play in the upcoming first Test match against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, scheduled to start on November 22.

After making a solid start to his knock in India's intra-squad match simulation on Friday, Rahul left the field early, grimacing in pain as a short delivery from Prasidh Krishna struck the India batter on his elbow. He did not return to the field later that day or on the next day.

However, in a major boost for India, who learned that Shubman Gill won't make the playing XI for the first Test owing to a finger injury, Rahul spent close to an hour batting at the nets on Sunday, with no visible sign of discomfort.

On Sunday evening, BCCI released a video of Rahul's training session at the WACA with BCCI physios Kamlesh Jain and Yogesh Parmar revealing how the last two days unravelled pertaining to the injury concern.

Kamlesh said: "The Key for us is that there is no fracture or bone lesions in there."

Yogesh added: "I took him for the x-ray and scans, and based on the reports I knew that it was more about controlling the pain and giving him confidence. From a medical point of view, he is absolutely fine. "

The India batter, who now looks likely to play in the Perth opener next week in the absence of both Gill and India captain Rohit Sharma, who had his second child on Friday, said that he is happy to have gotten ample practice ahead of the match.

"I'm feeling good and batted today, getting ready for the first game. I was happy that I came here early to get used to the conditions. I got a lot of time to prepare and I'm excited for the series," he said.