KL Rahul ruled out for the 3rd Test against England, Devdutt Padikkal named replacement

Senior Team India batter KL Rahul has been ruled out of the third Test match against England in Rajkot, which begins on Thursday, February 15. The right-handed batter has been changed by his Karnataka teammate Devdutt Padikkal.

Both Rahul and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja had been picked in the Indian group for the remaining three Tests against England. However, the BCCI had clearly acknowledged whereas saying the squad that the participation of the duo could be topic to health clearance from the medical group.

An official launch from BCCI on Monday, February 12 confirmed:

“Mr. Rahul has reached 90 per cent of match health and is progressing nicely below the supervision of the BCCI Medical Team. He will proceed his restoration course of at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to be fully 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, starting February 15, 2024,” the launch added.

31-year-old Rahul had missed the second Test in Visakhapatnam after complaining of ache in his proper quadriceps. He had scored 86 in the first innings of the opening Test in Hyderabad and 22 in the second essay.

Speaking of Padikkal, he scored 151 & 36 in the Ranji Trophy 2024 match against Tamil Nadu in Chennai, with chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar watching the recreation from the stands. The match ended on Monday in an exciting draw.

Earlier, the left-hander scored 193 against Punjab and 103 against Goa. He additionally impressed in the two unofficial Tests against England Lions, registering scores of 105, 65 & 21.

India’s up to date squad for 3rd 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, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal.

Devdutt Padikkal lately opened up on regaining kind

After putting a powerful hundred for Karnataka against Tamil Nadu in the first innings, batting at the No. 3 place, he asserted that he had no points coming into bat one-down or opening.

“It’s just the way our team is set up. I don’t mind batting at No.3 and I don’t mind opening either. So that doesn’t really make a huge difference. So I just want to make sure wherever I bat, I contribute to the team,” he was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo.

An intestinal problem over the previous two years had affected Padikkal’s kind and health. However, he appears to have regained his batting rhythm with some fantastic performances this season.

“To be sincere, in the final couple of years I wasn’t doing too nicely. My performances had been naturally dipping due to that. But I used to be at all times assured sufficient that I’d be again scoring runs sooner or later. Now that I’m again by way of my health and well being fully, I’m actually glad I’m again scoring runs as nicely,” the 23-year-old asserted.

The Karnataka batter has notched up 556 runs in six innings in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, with three a whole bunch to his credit score.