KL Rahul likely to make his comeback in 4th Test against England, who would he replace in the squad?

Despite all the challenges the Indian team faced in the past few days on the player's availability front and the form of some of the players, they have still managed to overcome them and register their biggest victory in test cricket in terms of runs. India won the 3rd test against England by 434 runs and with it took a substantive lead of 2-1 in the five-match series.

The next test of the series will start from 23rd February in Ranchi and before that India has got some positive news from their camp as KL Rahul is expected to be fit for the next match against England. The news was confirmed by the Indian Cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma himself after the 3rd test where he said, “he should be okay” after a report asked about his availability for the 4th test. This will bolster the inexperienced Indian middle-order batting as KL Rahul has been in great touch in the recent past.

KL Rahul’s Medical Update

KL Rahul played a crucial hand of 87 runs in the first innings of the first test at Hyderabad but was ruled out of the 2nd test because of a quadriceps injury. KL Rahul didn’t feature in the 3rd test at Rajkot as he wasn’t able to recover in time. He was undergoing rehabilitation in the NCA and is reported to be fit for the 4th test match of the series.

The Indian Cricket Board’s media advisory has already provided an important update on the status of KL Rahul’s injury. The media report stated, “KL Rahul, whose availability for the remaining three Tests was subject to fitness, has been ruled out of the third Test against England in Rajkot. Mr Rahul has reached 90 per cent of match fitness and is progressing well under the supervision of the Indian Cricket Board Medical Team.”

The report further added, “He will continue his recovery process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to be completely match-fit for the fourth and fifth Test.”

Rajat Patidar’s place under fire

Karnataka Devdutt Paddikal was called in as KL Rahul’s replacement for the 3rd test. However, in the coming time, KL Rahul is going to replace one of the batters and given the performances in the last two tests it is looking like Rajat Patidar could make way for KL Rahul in the Indian test squad. 

Devdutt Paddikal failed to impress with the bat in the last two tests whereas the other debutant Sarfaraz Khan notched two half-centuries with the bat in his maiden test for India.