KL Rahul, whose participation in the remaining three Tests hinged on fitness, has been ruled out of the third Test against England in Rajkot.
Currently at 90% match fitness, Rahul is making progress under the supervision of the BCCI medical team. He will continue his recovery at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to ensure full readiness for the fourth and fifth Tests.
Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal has been named as Rahul’s replacement for the upcoming Test, starting Thursday. The 31-year-old, who missed the second Test in Visakhapatnam due to incomplete fitness, underwent scans that revealed he wasn’t fully ready for the demanding series against England.
With Virat Kohli also unavailable for the remaining Tests, Rahul is huge a setback for the Indian team in this high-profile series. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier stated that the participation of Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul in the squad depended on fitness clearance from the medical team.
Updated Indian 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, and Mohd. Siraj.