Reports: Ravindra Jadeja also likely to miss third Test against England, KL Rahul expected to play

Ravindra-Jadeja-and-KL-Rahul. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Star India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is also likely to miss the third Test against England beginning from February 15 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot. Notably, Jadeja was ruled out of the second Test of the series scheduled to begin from February 02 in Visakhapatnam after he sustained a hamstring injury during Day 4 of the first Test in Hyderabad.

Following that, the southpaw began rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru on Tuesday, January 30 and has been constantly sharing updates on his recovery process with fans. However, according to recent developments, he may take more time than expected to fully recover from his injury.

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According to a report in Cricbuzz, Jadeja is likely to take between four to eight weeks to heal and it would be remarkable if he manages to be fit for the fourth Test in Ranchi from February 23 to 27. Furthermore, the situation regarding Shami is also not promising as the seamer is currently in London with no information about his surgery for an ankle injury.

The speedster is reportedly undergoing treatments with injections and is unlikely to feature in the remainder of the ongoing series against England. Apart from the duo, there are also no details about the unavailability of Virat Kohli, however, the Cricbuzz report states that the former India captain is currently out of the country.

BCCI rested Rahul as a precautionary measure

Amid the piling up of injuries, there’s some good news for India as batter KL Rahul is likely to be fit for the third Test. The 31-year-old complained of right quadriceps pain during the first game and was subsequently ruled out of the second Test.

The BCCI reportedly decided to rest Rahul as a precautionary measure with him being the key batter in the side and he’s expected to be fit for the third game given the long gap between the second and third Test.

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Meanwhile, England have once again named their playing XI a day ahead of the second Test with off-spinner Shoaib Bashir set to make his debut replacing Jack Leach, who will miss due to a knee injury. Veteran seamer James Anderson has also been added to the XI replacing Mark Wood.

On the other hand, given the number of injuries, the Indian team management will have a herculean task of finalizing their playing combination for the second Test.