According to the Hindustan Times, Karnataka’s batsman Devdutt Padikkal is poised to make his maiden Test match appearance against England in the fourth Test, scheduled for March 7th in Ranchi.
The proficient left-hand batsman is set to take over from Rajat Patidar, whose performance in his initial three Tests has been underwhelming with scores of 32, 9, 5, 0, 17, and 0. Patidar stepped in after KL Rahul sustained a quadriceps injury during the starting match in Hyderabad.
KL Rahul has allegedly traveled to the United Kingdom to seek consultations and treatment for his injury, and he is almost certain to miss the fifth Test as well. Devdutt Padikkal, meanwhile, has been named to the team as the Lucknow Super Giants captain’s backup for the third Test.
“Padikkal will make his debut in Dharamsala,” Hindustan Times quoted a BCCI source as saying. “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.”
Reportedly, the resolution was arrived at by the main selector, Ajit Agarkar, following discussions with team captain Rohit Sharma, chief mentor Rahul Dravid, and the rest of the crew.
Devdutt Padikkal, 23, will become the series’ fifth debutant, following Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, and Akash Deep.
Both Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel have displayed solid form in the previous two Tests and are much more comfortable with the step-up from local cricket, which appears to be working against Patidar.
How does Devdutt Padikkal’s first-class record look like?
The former Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals youngster, who just joined the Super Giants, has been in top form in domestic red-ball cricket for some months.
In four Ranji Trophy matches this season, he has three hundreds and 556 runs at an average of 92.66. Prior to his call-up to India, his scores were 193, 42, 31, 103, 105, 65, 21, 151, and 36. Overall, he has 2227 runs from 31 first-class games, averaging 44.54.