KL Rahul unlikely to feature in Karnataka Premier League 2015

India opening batsman and Hubli Tigers skipper KL Rahul, who missed his team's first two games of Karnataka Premier League (KPL) 2015, is unlikely to take part in the rest of the tournament as he is recovering from a quadriceps strain. Rahul, who was one of the centurions in Sri Lanka in the Cricbuzz Cup which India won 2-1, said he picked up the injury during the Sri Lankan tour. Pacer Sreenath Aravind led Hubli in the matches against Rockstars and Bijapur Bulls and he is expected to don the skipper's hat for an extended period.

"In Sri Lanka, I had a slight strain in my quadriceps. I'm most likely to miss the whole KPL. I'm very disappointed about that. I'm not sure yet (about missing the tournament). The physio is going to review it after a week and I'm hoping maybe, I might play the last couple of games in Mysore," Rahul told Cricbuzz.

While this comes as a huge setback for Hubli Tigers, Rahul, who was the highest run-getter in the previous KPL season, is confident that the likes of Kunal Kapoor and Pawan KB are experienced enough to make up for his absence. "(My presence) would have balanced out the team really well. I played with them last year. I'm pretty sure that (the players will make up for the absence). We have some quality players in the line-up like Pawan and Kunal.They are experienced players.

"[Mohammed] Taha and Abhinav [Manohar] also gave a glimpse of what they can do. They can strike the ball really well. We have some exciting players - Kranthi [Kumar] and few others who can finish the game at the back-end. So, we have a good balance and it's just about executing our plans well," Rahul added.

The onus will be on Kunal and Pawan to guide the batting order in Rahul's absence. Rahul said they are experienced players who should be able to do a good job and that there would not be any extra pressure on them. "If you are a senior player or a Ranji Trophy (player), the team is expecting you to take that responsibility. They have faced the pressures of the Ranji Trophy and they are well-equipped to deliver for the team. The atmosphere in the dressing room is very positive, very calm. Like I said, (the team) is a mix of skilful youngsters and experienced players. We are not going to put any pressure on them, we want them to go out there and express themselves and play some aggressive cricket."

Hubli got their KPL campaign off to a winning start with a 32-run victory against Rockstars. However, they suffered a defeat against Bulls, who rode on Robin Uthappa's brilliant, unbeaten 73 off 45 deliveries to secure a seven-wicket win with three overs to spare. Rahul mentioned that the early defeat does no harm as it would boost Tigers to do better in their upcoming matches.

"I think we did really well (against Bulls). The intent Taha, Abhinav and KB showed was really good. They took on the main bowlers and they weren't shy to go after [Abhimanyu] Mithun. That sent strong signals that we are not scared of names and we have some exciting players who are raring to go and knock anybody out. It is good in a way that we lose a game like this early in the tournament. We know where we stand, we can come back and work our plans out, see what the best eleven is and see what are the things we can improve on in the upcoming games," the 23-year-old said.