KL Rahul ruled out of 3rd Test against England; India rope in Lucknow Super Giants star for Rajkot encounter
KL Rahul is ruled out of the 3rd Test against England, the BCCI confirmed on Monday.
India have been handed another massive blow going into the 3rd Test against England on Monday as former vice-captain KL Rahul is ruled out of the upcoming encounter. After restoring parity in the five-match saga, Rohit Sharma's Team India announced a Virat Kohli-less squad for the remainder of the Test series against England on Saturday. While former skipper Kohli opted out of the remainder of the red-ball series, out-of-form batter Shreyas Iyer was dropped from the Test squad.
As per the latest developments, wicketkeeper-batter Rahul will not feature only in the 3rd Test against England. Announcing the squad for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Test against England, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed that the participation of Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja is subject to fitness clearance from the medical team. The Indian duo missed the 2nd Test against England due to their respective injuries. Rahul and Jadeja were India's standout performers in the series opener against Ben Stokes' men.
Why India without KL Rahul in 3rd Test against England
Rahul is still working towards attaining match fitness amid the England series. The Indian medical team will observe Rahul's fitness for one more week before handing out their verdict on the batter's availability. The former vice-captain complained of right quadriceps pain in the 1st Test against England before he was sidelined with an injury. India will meet England in the 3rd Test at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday.
Who will replace Rahul in 3rd Test?
Since Rahul will take some more time to regain full fitness, India have opted to pick Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal in the Test squad for the England encounter. Former Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Paddikal has joined forces with Rahul at Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Rajasthan Royals swapped Padikkal for Lucknow Super Giants pacer Avesh Khan ahead of IPL 2024. Indian southpaw Paddikal smashed 151 in his recent Ranji Trophy match. Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar also attended the Ranji game between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in which Padikkal played the stroke-filled knock to strengthen his selection case. Padikkal scored 193 against Punjab in the Ranji opener. The Indian batter also registered a century against Goa. In his last three innings for India A, Padikkal has notched up noteworthy scores of 105, 65 and 21.
