Dharamsala Test: KL Rahul ruled out, Jasprit Bumrah returns
The injured KL Rahul has flown to London to see the specialist who operated on his quadriceps last year. He hence has been ruled out of the fifth and final Test against England, starting on March 7 in Dharamsala. BCCI confirmed the same in a statement on February 29. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the fourth Test, has returned to the squad.
Rahul yet to recover fully
Rahul, who featured in the series opener, complained of right quadriceps pain thereafter. He hence missed the next three games and won't feature in Dharamsala either. "The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring Rahul and coordinating with specialists in London," the BCCI release read. Notably, Rahul was the team management's top choice for the number-four position after Virat Kohli pulled out of the series.
In-form Bumrah back in the team
Bumrah was rested for the preceding fourth Test in Ranchi after breathing fire with the red cherry in the first three games. The pace merchant has scalped 17 wickets in the series so far at 13.64. Akash Deep, who starred in his debut Test in Ranchi, is likely to make way for Bumrah. In another update, Washington Sundar has been released from the squad.
Devdutt Padikkal in line to make debut
As per Hindustan Times, Devdutt Padikkal will make his Test debut in the final game, replacing the struggling Rajat Patidar. "Devdutt Padikkal will make his debut in Dharamsala. Rahul is unlikely to be available and the team management wants to have a look at Padikkal as it is the last international fixture before the IPL," a BCCI source told the daily.
Patidar's poor run in the series
Patidar made his Test debut in the second match in Vizag, taking Rahul's number-four position. Though the Madhya Pradesh batter impressed with a fluent 32 in his maiden Test innings, 9, 5, 0, 17, and 0 were his scores thereafter. Hence, the team management is reportedly keen to give Padikkal a go as the Karnataka batter has been in impressive form lately.
Padikkal rewarded for his Ranji run
Left-handed batter Padikkal received his maiden Test call-up. He scored 151 and 36 against Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy Round 5. Padikkal has racked up 556 runs from six innings at an incredible average of 92.66 in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. His tally includes three tons, with 193 being his highest score in the season opener against Punjab.
India's inexperienced batting line-up
Besides Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan and wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel made their respective Test debuts in the ongoing series. Moreover, Yashasvi Jaiswal is a veteran of just eight Tests. Hence, India have been left with a rookie batting line-up for this series. While Kohli remains unavailable due to personal reasons, Shreyas Iyer was dropped after the first two Tests.
Hosts have clinched the series
The aforementioned youngsters have stood up as India have already sealed the series 3-1 with a match to go. While the hosts narrowly lost the opener, they bounced back with three comprehensive wins. The likes of Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, and Bumrah have been brilliant in the series. Jurel and Sarfaraz have also played a couple of impressive knocks.
India's updated squad for 5th Test versus England
Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), 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.
