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India batter Rajat Patidar is all set to be dropped from the Indian playing XI for the fifth Test against England in Dharamsala. Patidar has endured poor outings in the series so far and captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid are not happy with his performance. As per 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 HIGHLIGHTS
- Rajat Patidar is set to be dropped from 5th Test.
- Devdutt Padikkal can replace him in the XI.
- Padikkal has been in great form.
Devdutt Padikkal is all set to replace Rajat Patidar in the playing XI for the fifth Test in Dharamsala. Patidar made his Test debut after he replaced 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 string of low scores that put his place in the Test team in jeopardy.
The board was keen to release Patidar from the India squad for the fifth Test so that he could play for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Vidharbha, however, the unavailability of KL Rahul barred 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 quadricep-tendon injury, but Patidar is still set to lose his spot in the playing XI to Devdutt Padikkal. As per a report in Hindustan Times, 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 slot in the playing XI.
Padikkal was added to the India squad ahead of the third Test. The southpaw has been in stunning form lately and scored 151 for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy fixture 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 have a look at Padikkal as it is the last international fixture before the IPL,” a BCCI source told Hindustan Times.
Updated India squad for the Dharamsala Test
Rohit Sharma (capt), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), 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