Revealed- Why Rajat Patidar is not playing today's match vs England and who has replaced him?

Team India have made two changes to their playing eleven for the fifth and final Test against England at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. Akash Deep and Rajat Patidar have made way for Jasprit Bumrah and Devdutt Padikkal respectively.

While Akash Deep was expected to be dropped from the playing eleven despite his impressive show on debut in the last Test after Jasprit Bumrah’s return, not many were expecting Rajat Patidar to miss out. However, the right-handed batsman was forced to miss the game due to an injury, the BCCI confirmed just before the start of the Test.

In an update, the BCCI stated that the batsman copped a blow on his left ankle during India’s practice session on Wednesday (March 6) and was not available for the fifth Test.

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“Rajat Patidar got hit on his left ankle during Team India’s practice session on 6th March 2024. He pulled up sore on the morning of the game and was not available for selection for the 5th Test,” the BCCI stated.

UPDATE: Rajat Patidar got hit on his left ankle during Team India's practice session on 6th March, 2024. He pulled up sore on the morning of the game and was not available for selection for the 5th Test.#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 7, 2024

Uncapped Devdutt Padikkal has replaced Rajat Patidar in the playing eleven for the Dharamsala Test. Earlier on Wednesday, captain Rohit Sharma threw his support behind the under-pressure batsman as he failed to score big in the ongoing series.

“Rajat Patidar has very good abilities. And I like him. I see him as a talented player. We need to give him some more time,” Rohit told the media.

Rajat Patidar’s performance:

Rajat Patidar made his debut in the second Test of the ongoing series after an injury ruled KL Rahul out of the game. He played in the second and third games as well but failed to make a mark with the bat. In six innings, he registered two ducks while scoring a total of 63 runs.

‘We would have batted first as well’

Team India will bowl first in the ongoing game after England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first. Speaking at the toss, Rohit said that India would have liked to bat first as well. The captain also said that the team wants to finish the series on a high.

We would have batted first as well. We have done really well so far this series and an opportunity to finish on a high. There should be a better bounce on this pitch than the games before in this series. Good pitch to bat on and I don’t think it will deteriorate that much,” said Rohit.

India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah