The middle-order batter KL Rahul has been ruled out of the fourth test of the ongoing England tour of India 2024 after failing to recover from his injury.
India squad for England Fourth Test
KL Rahul suffered a Quadriceps discomfort during the first test of the home tour and was sidelined during the second test of the ongoing series. He was expected to join the squad for the final three tests but missed the third test.
As per an official BCCI statement, KL Rahul is at 90% of match fitness and progressing well at the NCA in Bengaluru. However, it is said that KL Rahul has been ruled out for the fourth test and his availability for the final test is subject to his fitness test.
Due to his unavailability, Devdut Padikkal earned a call-up for the test squad after his impressive performance in first-class matches.
KL Rahul has been suffering from fitness problems for almost a year. He underwent thigh surgery after he picked up an injury during the IPL 2023 and was ruled out of the tournament.
Since then, he has been impressive during the Asia Cup 2023, and also impressive in Test and ODI formats where India played against South Africa, Afghanistan, and the ongoing England series.
On the other hand, Indian ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the Ranchi test. His inclusion in the fifth test at Dharamsala will depend upon the outcome of the fourth Test.
The Indian team travelled to Ranchi on February 20 and the player travelled to Ahmedabad. The management’s decision to rest of Bumrah is to manage the workload.
He bowled around 81 overs in three games and picked 17 wickets becoming the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing series. There is no information about the replacement of Bumrah for the upcoming test.
India won the third match of the ongoing series with a 434-run difference. Ravindra Jadeja bagged five wickets in England’s second innings helping the side to secure victory. He was named as the Player of the Match for his heroic deeds at Rajkot Stadium.
Mukesh Kumar who rested during the third match to play in Bengal’s final group stage match in the Ranji Trophy 2024 schedule will be rejoining the squad for the upcoming test.
Uncapped Akash Deep is the other seamer added to the squad. India and England will be playing their fourth test starting on February 23 at JSCA International Stadium Complex.
India squad for the fourth test
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep
