Team India have suffered another big blow ahead of the crucial third IND vs ENG 2024 Test against England. Already without Virat Kohli, the hosts will be without key player KL Rahul as well for the forthcoming game. The setback will further weaken India’s already fragile middle-order.
Both KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja suffered injuries in the first Test and missed the second Test in Vishakhapatnam. While Rahul was down with a quadricep strain, Ravindra Jadeja was sidelined with a hamstring injury. While both the players were included in the squad for the last three Tests, the BCCI stated that their participation would depend on the medical team’s report.
On Monday (February 12), the BCCI announced that Rahul has failed to recover in time for the third Test. He has been replaced by uncapped Devdutt Padikkal in the squad. And while there is an update on Rahul, not much is known about Ravindra Jadeja’s injury status.
No update on Ravindra Jadeja:
Delivering an update on Rahul, the BCCI stated: “Rahul has reached 90 per cent of match fitness and is progressing well under the supervision of the BCCI Medical Team. 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.”
The BCCI, however, is yet to deliver an update on the availability of Ravindra Jadeja even though his participation is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team as well. One positive for Team India is that unlike Rahul, the allrounder joined the rest of the team in Rajkot. However, a report in PTI has stated that the BCCI medical team is still not confident about the left-arm spinner’s match fitness.
“KL Rahul hasn’t yet reported in Rajkot. Ravindra Jadeja, the local boy has linked up with the team. It was always a case of subject to fitness and BCCI medical team is still not confident that he is match fit,” a senior BCCI source told PTI.
With three more Tests still to be played, the Indian team-management is unlikely to take any risk with Ravindra Jadeja. In case, he recovers fully, he is likely to replace Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI for the match. The third Test is scheduled to be played from Thursday (February 15).