Senior India batter KL Rahul has been ruled out of the Rajkot Test against England after failing to fully recover from his injury. Rahul was added to the India squad for the remaining three Tests of the five-match series against the Three Lions but it came along with the caveat that his availability will be subject to his fitness. Rahul had complained of right quadriceps pain during the first Test match in Hyderabad and as a result, he was ruled out of the second game which India won comprehensively in Visakhapatnam.
Devdutt Padikkal, the talented Karnataka left-hander who is enjoying a great first class season, has been named KL Rahul’s replacement for Rajkot Test.
“KL Rahul, whose availability for the remaining three Tests was subject to fitness, has been ruled out of the third Test against England in Rajkot. Mr. Rahul has reached 90 per cent of match fitness and is progressing well under the supervision of the BCCI Medical Team,” said the apex cricket board of India in a release on Monday.
“He will continue his recovery process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to be completely match-fit for the fourth and fifth Test. The Men’s Selection Committee named Devdutt Padikkal as KL Rahul’s replacement for the third Test,” the release added.
In his most recent Ranji Trophy match, the 23-year-old Padikkal scored 151 with the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar watching his knock from the stands.
Padikkal has been in excellent form this season. Having started with a 193 against Punjab in the opening game, he struck 103 against Goa.
Besides his exploits in Ranji, Padikkal also scored 105, 65 and 21 in his three innings for India A in the two unofficial Tests against England Lions.
As far as Rahul is concerned, the 31-year-old batter’s extended break raises a serious question about whether the senior India players and the BCCI’s medical team are giving proper picture about the injury status of certain players.
India’s updated squad for the third Test vs England: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Jasprit Bumrah (Vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (Wicketkeeper), KS Bharat (Wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja (Subject to fitness), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal.
(With PTI Inputs)
Topics mentioned in this article
