Why are KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane not playing in the 1st IND vs SL 2022 Test?

India's first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali will see three key batters missing from the action - KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Rahul was supposed to open with Rohit Sharma, while also being the vice-captain. But he has been ruled out of the entire series due to an injury. He strained his upper left hamstring during India's second ODI against West Indies last month and is now undergoing rehab. He's expected to recover in time for IPL 2022.

Pujara and Rahane, meanwhile, have been dropped from the team. They were averaging in the low and mid-20s in the last two years and apart from a couple of good knocks, couldn't put up any substantial innings.

The Mohali encounter against Sri Lanka is the first Test where India are without either of them. The selectors and Rohit haven't closed the door on them, though. The middle-order batters have been asked to earn their place back by scoring runs in the Ranji Trophy.

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How does India's playing 11 shapes up without KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, and Cheteshwar Pujara?

Rahul's long-time friend Mayank Agarwal has substituted him at the top of the order. Agarwal also opened for India in their last Test series against South Africa, but could only score 135 runs from six games despite starting the tour with a brilliant 60 (123).

A good series against Sri Lanka won't help him replace the Lucknow Super Giants captain in the pecking order for openers but would at least cement his place as the reserve opener.

Rahane has been replaced by Shreyas Iyer, who performed superbly in his debut series from the former's usual position of No.5. From two matches, he scored 202 runs at an average of 50.50 including a 171-ball 105 in his maiden innings.

There was a toss-up between the experienced Hanuma Vihari and young-gun Shubman Gill for Pujara's place, with India going with the former.

India's playing 11: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah (vc).