Devdutt Padikkal to make his Test debut against England in Dharamshala Test: Reports
KL Rahul remains unfit to play and is reportedly ruled out of fifth Test.
Devdutt Padikkal will be making his Test debut against England in the fifth Test match, slated to be played on March 7 in Dharamshala as per reports. The 23-year-old youngster was included in the squad in place of KL Rahul but was not given a match-opportunity so far.
On the other hand, Rajat Patidar was given more opportunities in the series. The right-hander made his Test debut against England in Visakhapatnam and it wasn’t a memorable debut Test series for him as he chipped in with a string of low scores.
The 30-year-old made 32 & 9 in the second Test, 5 & 0 in the third Test and 17 & 0 in the fourth Test. Meanwhile, KL Rahul who played the Test opener was not seen in action in the series due to quadriceps injury and still remains unfit to play.
It is highly likely that Devdutt Padikkal will be replacing the underperforming Rajat Patidar for the upcoming Test match. Recently, a BCCI source confirmed that Padikkal will be making his Test debut in Dharamshala.
Devdutt Padikkal will make his debut in fifth Test: BCCI source
Furthermore, the source stated that KL Rahul is unlikely to feature in the next Test as he remains unfit. “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 Hindustan Times.
Devdutt Padikkal will be the player to watch out for in the fifth Test, if he makes his debut. The youngster amassed 2227 runs in 31 first-class appearances at a pretty good batting average of 44.54 including six centuries and 12 fifties.
Playing for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, he aggregated 556 runs at an average of 92.66 in 4 games. It is worth noting that he scored 3 centuries in the 6 innings he has played for the team.
Meanwhile, Team India already won the Test series against England by 3-1. Despite losing the Test opener against England, the hosts made a great comeback in the next three games as they clinched all three encounters to seal the deal.
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