India’s hopes of bolstering their green middle order with the experience of KL Rahul for Thursday’s third Test against England have been ended after he failed to shake off an injury.
Rahul, a 31-year-old veteran of 50 Tests scored 86 in India’s first innings of the series, only to sit out the second Test in Visakhapatnam with a quad injury. He was named in the squad for the rest of the series, subject to fitness, but has now been ruled out of the third Test in Rajkot.
With the series locked at 1-1, India have called up the uncapped Devdutt Padikkal, 23, to replace him, rather than going back to the dropped Shreyas Iyer or the out of favour Cheteshwar Pujara. The case for Pujara was alluring given Rajkot is his home city and he made a Ranji Trophy century this week. Padikkal, an attacking left-hander, is in form too, having made 151 in a Ranji Trophy game that finished on Monday.
Padikkal will compete with Sarfaraz Khan for a debut in an inexperienced middle order already missing Virat Kohli, who will play no part in the series for personal reasons. India already blooded a middle order debutant, Rajat Patidar, in Vizag, and centurions Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are 22 and 24 respectively.
It is not yet clear whether all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will return to the side in Rajkot after missing the second Test with a hamstring issue. Jasprit Bumrah, the star seamer, is expected to play in Rajkot, but rest for the fourth Test in Ranchi as his workload is managed.
England won the first match of the series thanks to Ollie Pope’s 196 and Tom Hartley’s second-innings seven-for. India bounced back with victory in the second match, set up by Jaiswal’s double century and rounded off by Bumrah’s nine wickets in the match.
England are currently in the UAE on a break with their families and will fly into India on Monday to resume training two days before the start of the third Test. One player who will not be returning to India, however, is Jack Leach with a knee injury ruling him out of the rest of the series.
What is the full fixture list and schedule?
All times UK
1st Test: January 25–29, Hyderabad – England won by 28 runs
2nd Test: February 2–6, Visakhapatnam – India won by 106 runs
3rd Test: February 15–19, Rajkot (4am start)
4th Test: February 23-27, Ranchi (4am start)
5th Test: March 7–11, Dharamsala (4am start)
What TV channel is India vs England on?
In the UK, TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is showing the series after reaching an agreement just nine days before the first ball was bowled. The matches are also available to view on discovery+. Commentary is being taken from the world feed, which features Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan.
Although there was no studio presence at all for the first Test, for rest of the series, TNT Sports flew Alastair Cook and Steven Finn to Sweden in order to get up early and provide an on-screen presence. The studio host is Kate Mason.
The live radio coverage is on Talksport 2, not BBC Test Match Special. Although the BBC bid for the rights, they were beaten by the commercial broadcaster. Talksport will broadcast the next leg of England’s tour of India primarily from London with a significantly reduced team on location in Rajkot and Ranchi.
Who is in the England squad?
England’s squad of 16 features a mix of youth and experience. Veterans like Joe Root and James Anderson are joined by rookie spinners in Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, the latter of whom took nine wickets on debut in the opening game. Harry Brook was allowed to return to the UK before the first Test even started, for personal reasons. There is no suggestion he will join the tour at any stage and has been replaced in the squad by Dan Lawrence. England will have to make do without Jack Leach for the final three Tests with the spinner failing to recover from the knee injury he picked up fielding on the opening day of the series.
England’s 16-man squad for India
Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood
Added: Dan Lawrence