Devdutt Padikkal to stay back with senior side as reserve batter: Reports

With Shubman Gill fracturing his thumb and effectively ruling himself out of contention for the first Test in Perth, Rohit Sharma’s availability being unclear and KL Rahul nursing a bruised elbow, team India have been forced to dig deep into their reserves.

Cricbuzz reported that, amidst injuries piling up, the tourists have decided to keep Devdutt Padikkal in Australia as a traveling reserve. Padikkal was originally scheduled to fly back to India with the rest of the India ‘A’ squad but the 24-year-old will now stay back in Australia and might come into consideration for selection should senior players’ availability continue to be an issue. 

Padikkal has only played one Test to date, but the decision to retain him comes on the back of an impressive showing in the unofficial two-Test series against Australia ‘A’.

The left-hander played both Tests and was arguably the pick of the Indian batters minus Dhruv Jurel, who scored twin fifties in the second game in Melbourne. Padikkal amassed 151 runs, the most by any India ‘A’ batter in the series. 

He posted an impressive 88 in the second innings of the first game at Mackay and was the only Indian batter who showed fight in the first innings of the same contest, posting 36 when the tourists got bundled out for 107, with no batter barring Padikkal crossing 25. 

There are only five days to go for the first Test in Perth but the availability of India skipper Rohit Sharma is still under the radar of uncertainty. However, according to multiple reports, it’s highly unlikely that the 37-year-old will feature in the first game. Rohit is currently in India on paternity leave. He and his partner welcomed their second child earlier this week. 

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