Senior India batter KL Rahul has been ruled out of the IND vs ENG 4th Test set to begin on February 23 in Ranchi after failing to fully recover from his injury.
Rahul was added to the India squad for the remaining three Tests but his availability was subject to fitness. The batter was later ruled out of Rajkot Test as he failed to gain full fitness.
Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal, who was named KL Rahul’s replacement for the Rajkot Test, will continue to be part of the squad.
While it was earlier reported that Rahul was ‘90% fit’ prior to the third Test, the BCCI has now confirmed that the batter has not regained full fitness. His availability for the fifth Test will be “subject to fitness”.
Notably, Rahul had complained of right quadriceps pain during the first Test match in Hyderabad and was ruled out of the second game in Visakhapatnam.
No KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar likely to continue
With KL Rahul out, wicketkeeper-batter Rajat Patidar is likely to continue in Playing XI for the fourth Test.
Meanwhile, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been released from the squad for the fourth Test. The bowler will likely rejoin the squad for the fifth and final Test in Dharmshala.
India’s updated squad for the 4th Test: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.
