Ind vs Eng: KL Rahul was ruled out and Padikkal got his maiden Test-call up

The third Test between India and England is scheduled to begin on February 15 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. Devdutt Padikkal has been named in replacement of KL Rahul in the Indian team.

During the July 2021 Sri Lankan tour, Padikkal, 23, has already participated in two Twenty20 Internationals for India.

After failing to recover from the quadriceps stiffness he had been experiencing since the Hyderabad Test, Rahul was unable to play in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.

Rahul was included in the third Test squad, although his place in the squad was subject on his level of fitness. Eventually, the veteran was unable to recover in time, which presented Padikkal with his maiden test-call up.

Rahul will begin his rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore in the interval in order to be ready for the remaining two Tests of the series.

Maiden test-call up for Padikkal

Padikkal has performed admirably for Karnataka in the current Ranji Trophy competition. The left-handed hitter has scored 556 runs at a strike-rate of 76.90 and an average of 92.66 in 4 games. With 3 centuries to his credit.

In the match at the KSCA Hubli Cricket Ground against Punjab, he recorded his highest score of 193. With seven wickets to spare, Karnataka emerged victorious in the game.

Read More: Dhruv Jurel replace KS Bharat in Rajkot in the 3rd Test

Padikkal recently struck 151 against Tamil Nadu at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Padikkal has scored 2227 runs at an average of 44.54 and a strike rate of 59.45 in 31 first-class games. He has six hundreds and twelve fifties to his career.

Squad: 

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, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal.