IND vs ENG: No debut for Devdutt Padikkal as India to stick with Rajat Patidar for 5th test - Reports

Rajat Patidar hasn’t scored a fifty in the ongoing five-match test series against England.

In a surprising turn of events, India are still considering middle-order batter Rajat Patidar for the fifth and final test against England, starting from March 7th in Dharamshala. This news comes after some reports suggested that young left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal was in line for his test debut for India.

The star batter Rajat Patidar made his debut in the ongoing five-match test series against Ben Stokes-led England after middle-order batter KL Rahul was ruled out due to injury. Patidar has played three test matches during the ongoing five-match series against England.

However, since his debut for India, right-handed batter Rajat Patidar has failed to justify his selection in the playing XI. In six innings, Patidar has scored 32, 9, 5, 0, 17 and 0. The 30-year-old Rajat Patidar was under scrutiny after another poor performance in the fourth test match in Ranchi.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had recently revealed that middle-order batter KL Rahul hasn’t fully recovered from his quadriceps injury yet and would also miss the final test of the series against England. Rahul’s absence has led the Indian think-tank to choose between Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal.

“The team wants Patidar to get one more chance as they feel Patidar has talent and it’s a matter of time before he gets runs. As India has already won the series, the team wants to try him out one more time instead of giving a debut to Devdutt Padikkal,” a source told the Indian Express.

India’s updated squad for fifth test:

Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.

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