Devdutt Padikkal likely to make India Test debut against England in Dharamsala: Report

Young India batter Devdutt Padikkal may earn his maiden Test cap in the fifth and final Test against England scheduled to start from 7 March in Dharamsala. As per a report by Hindustan Times, Padikkal is likely to make his Test debut, now with KL Rahul having been ruled out of the fifth Test. Rahul hadrecently flown to London to consult the specialist who had operated on his quadriceps in 2023.

Padikkal has so far represented India in two T20Is. The 23-year-old made his international debut against Sri Lanka in July 2021. As far as his recent exploits are concerned, Padikkal played a fine knock of 151 in a Ranji Trophy match for Karnataka against Tamil Nadu earlier in February.

Padikkal has been in brilliant form in the Ranji Trophy this season with scores of 193 and 103 against Punjab and Goa respectively. Apart from his stellar Ranji Trophy outing, Padikkal also produced crucial knocks of 105, 65 and 21 for India A in the two unofficial Tests against England Lions.

Meanwhile, Rahul was Indian team management’s top-choice to replace Virat Kohli at number four. But Rahul endured a right quad muscle injury during the Test series opener in Hyderabad and because of that the selectors had to explore other options to replace him.

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In absence of big names like Kohli, Rahul,  Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami, Team India youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan have exhibited terrific gameplay to help India clinch the Test series against England. India captain Rohit Sharma was heavily impressed with the manner in which the young talents performed.

“Clearly tells me that they want to be here (on youngster). All the hard work that they have done in the past, in the growing-up years, coming through the whole circuit of playing domestic cricket, playing the local club cricket and performing there, and then coming here. Obviously it’s a big challenge to play Test cricket,” Rohit had said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“We all know that. But these guys, when I look at them, when I talk to them, the responses that I get from them is quite encouraging,” he added.

The fifth and final Test match of the series is scheduled to start from March 7 in Dharamsala.