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Indian batsman Rajat Patidar is set to be dropped from the Indian XI for the fifth Test against England in Dharamsala. Patidar has had poor performances in the series so far and captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid are not happy with his performance. According to a report, Devdutt Padikkal will replace Patidar in the playing XI for the fifth Test.
KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (Source:AP/BCCI)
KEY POINTS
- Rajat Patidar will be dropped from the fifth Test.
- Devdutt Padikkal can replace him in the XI.
- Padikkal has been in great form.
Devdutt Padikkal is set to replace Rajat Patidar in the playing XI for the fifth Test in Dharamsala. Patidar made his Test debut after replacing the injured KL Rahul in the second Test. He showed glimpses of his potential during a 32-run knock in his first Test innings, however, what followed was a series of low scores that jeopardized his place in the Test team.
The board was interested in releasing Patidar from the Indian team for the fifth Test so that he could play for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Vidharbha, however, KL Rahul’s unavailability prevented the selectors from doing so.
Rahul has been ruled out of the fifth Test as he is in London seeking an expert opinion on his quadriceps tendon injury, but Patidar is still on the verge of losing his place in the XI to Devdutt Padikkal. According to a Hindustan Times report, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar met coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma after the fourth Test and the stakeholders decided that Devdutt Padikkal would take Patidar’s place in the team’s XI. game.
Padikkal joined the Indian team before the third Test. The left-hander has been in impressive form of late and scored 151 for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu. He also scored 105 while playing for India A against England Lions. He has smashed five centuries in the previous eight first-class matches.
“Padikkal will make his debut in Dharamsala. Rahul is unlikely to be available and the team management wants to take a look at Padikkal as it is the last international match before the IPL,” a BCCI source told Hindustan Times.
India squad updated for Dharamsala Test
Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav , Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep