Big blow to India, star batsman out of third test against England, replacement announced!

pc: Navbharat Times

India's middle-order batsman KL Rahul has been ruled out of the third Test against England in Rajkot. Despite being scheduled to join the team along with Jasprit Bumrah on Monday, Rahul remains at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. His exclusion is reportedly precautionary as he has a right quadriceps injury which caused him to miss the Visakhapatnam Test. Although initially part of the squad for the final three Tests, Rahul was dropped from the squad due to fitness concerns.

In a notable development, Devdutt Padikkal has been brought in as Rahul's replacement. The 23-year-old Karnataka batsman, who is currently enjoying a successful first-class season, recently scored an impressive 151 against Tamil Nadu. This performance adds to his three centuries in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, including a remarkable 105 against England Lions in the second unofficial Test.

For the upcoming Test in Rajkot, the Indian team is inducting new faces after leaving out-of-form Shreyas Iyer and the experienced Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. The selectors have kept their faith in Visakhapatnam debutants Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan, who are expected to make their debuts.

The team for the third test includes Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar. , Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep and Devdutt Padikkal.