Devdutt Padikkal is set to join the team soon. The southpaw was busy with his Ranji Trophy commitments and thus is slated to join the Indian Team in Rajkot very soon. The Karnataka batter has been brought in as a cover for the injured KL Rahul. Padikkal is likely to serve as a backup batter in the team.
KL Rahul’s injury has added more crisis into an already injury hit India Team. The star batter missed the Vizag Test with a quad injury which he suffered in the Hyderabad Test. Now KL Rahul is not 100% fit and thus is ruled out of the IND vs ENG 3rd Test.
“Devdutt Padikkal was busy with the Ranji Trophy. The round has ended today only and he will most likely arrive tomorrow and link up with the squad,” a BCCI official told CricketNext.
Devdutt Padikkal hammered a sensational knock of 151 runs right in front of Ajit Agarkar, the BCCI Chief Selector. With an average close to 93, the batter has been in fine form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. He has amassed 556 runs in just 4 matches.
Adding to his fine form, he also slammed a century in the unofficial Test matches against England Lions. As a result, Padikkal’s selection was a no brainer for the board. On the other hand, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel are all set to earn their Test debuts in the Rajkot Test.
Sarfaraz comes in place of Shreyas Iyer, while Jurel will replace the lacklustre KS Bharat. The India vs England 3rd Test in Rajkot begins on 15th February.