India vs England: KL Rahul ruled out of Rajkot Test after failing to regain fitness; Devdutt Padikkal named replacement

India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was on Monday ruled out of the third Test against England that gets underway in Rajkot from 15 February. Rahul, who had scored a fluent 86 in the Hyderabad Test only to miss the subsequent fixture in Visakhapatnam due to injury, was included in India’s squad for the remainder of the England Test series subject to fitness.

According to an official release from the BCCI, however, Rahul is yet to fully recover from the quadriceps strain that had forced him to miss the second Test, and as a result will watch the Rajkot fixture from the sidelines.

“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.

“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,” read the official BCCI statement.

Additionally, fellow Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal has been included in the India squad as Rahul’s replacement.

“The Men’s Selection Committee named Devdutt Padikkal as KL Rahul’s replacement for the third Test, starting February 15, 2024,” the BCCI release added.

Read | Revisiting Team India’s record at Rajkot ahead of third Test against England

Like Rahul, spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja too had been included in the squad subject to his fitness, having played the Hyderabad Test before missing the Vizag match due to a hamstring niggle. It remains to be seen whether Jadeja recovers in time to play the third Test that will be taking place at his home ground.

“KL Rahul hasn’t yet reported in Rajkot. Ravindra Jadeja, the local boy has linked up with the team. It was always a case of subject to fitness and BCCI medical team is still not confident that he is match fit,” a senior BCCI source was quoted as saying according to PTI.

Rahul’s absence from the third Test puts a question mark on the Indian batting unit that is already without Virat Kohli, who has recused himself from the Test series due to “personal reasons”. The selectors had additionally dropped Shreyas Iyer for the remaining Tests after a poor run in recent fixtures, including in the two-Test series in South Africa as well as the first two matches of the ongoing series.

The five-Test series currently stands at 1-1. While England won the series opener in Hyderabad in stunning fashion by 28 runs despite conceding a 190-run first innings deficit, the Rohit Sharma-led hosts bounced back in the very next game, inflicting a 106-run defeat on Ben Stokes and Co.

India’s updated squad for the third Test: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal.