India’s wicketkeeper and batsman KL Rahul played just one Test before he was ruled out of the second due to an issue in his quadriceps. He was rested in Visakhapatnam but even after a long gap before the Rajkot game, Rahul was only at 90 percent fitness and BCCI didn’t risk including him in the squad. He has not attained full fitness yet and also missed the Ranchi Test. As per a new report on Cricbuzz, Rahul’s participation in Dharamsala is still unclear as the batsman has flown to London for an expert opinion on his injury.
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Rahul is still feeling pain in his right quadriceps for which he had undergone a surgery in London. He made his comeback in Asia Cup 2023 after which he successfully played in the ODI World Cup and in South Africa. But the pain is back and BCCI as well as National Croquet Academy (NCA) don’t want to take any risks with him as the cricketer is of utmost importance to them.
With India already 3-1 up in the series, BCCI might not want to take any risk with a 90 percent fit Rahul. It has also been reported that one more batter and one bowler might be rested in Dharamsala as BCCI looks to manage workload of players.
The good news for Jasprit Bumrah fans is that he is likely to return for the Dharamshala Test. This is the ground which offers assistance to the Pacers and for the first time in the series we might get to see three paces in both the playing 11s.
No words just pure emotions_
A series win to remember _#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/AtyB7tJq4c — BCCI (@BCCI) February 26, 2024
Coming back to Rahul, he also leads Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The fact that he is very close to regaining full fitness means Rahul is certain to play IPL 2024. Even if he misses the first few games, he should be able to get back to LSG midway through the season.
As far as England are concerned, they are unlikely to make massive changes to the playing 11 knowing they would want to finish the series on a high note, going back with a 3-2 scoreline rather than 4-1. One change that may want to make is including Dan Lawrence in place of Jonny Bairstow. Lawrence has been warming the bench so far and with Bairstow in such a poor form, Lawrence can be tried at the No 5 slot. Knowing fast-paced nature of Dharamsala pitch, we might also see three pacers also in England XI in the form of James Anderson, Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson. As per report, England and India are set to fly to Dharamsala on March 2.
India’s playing 11 for 5th Test Vs England may look like this: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal (Devdutt Padikkal), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Axar Patel/Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
England probable playing 11: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow/Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, James Anderson, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson