Devdutt Padikkal plays a shot on Day 2 of the 5th Test match against England, at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, in Dharamsala on Friday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

 More than once, the ball off the outside edge of his bat flew out of fielders’ reach.

Some misfields raised his boundary count. A couple of off-drives and one cover drive from the left-hander had the crowd at the HPCA Stadium here at its feet. A straight six brought up his 50 on Test debut. In short, Devdutt Padikkal’s knock had a touch of everything from being fortuitous to fantastic.

Riding on the confidence of scoring 556 runs for Karnataka in the current Ranji Trophy season, not to forget his 191 runs, including a century, from three innings for India-A against England Lions earlier this year, Padikkal displayed style and elegance on the biggest stage on Friday.

His 103-ball 65 — dotted with six and 10 boundaries, mostly on the off-side — came at a time when India needed to tighten its grip on the match. The 97-run fourth-wicket stand with Sarfaraz Khan — his team-mate from India — kept the host on course of batting out the opposition.

Padikkal knew of his debut after Rajat Patidar reported sick on the eve of this match. “Regardless of when you get to know (of your debut), there is always going to be nervousness around. That was still there. I got a message the previous night saying that I could be playing. I was nervous, it was a tough night’s sleep but it is something you also enjoy at the same time. You live for those days.”

Interestingly, the left-hander chose the edged-boundary past the lone slip as his best of the 10 fours on this day.

“Every boundary is enjoyable but the first boundary, off the edge, was most enjoyable because those were my first runs in Test cricket.”

Asked to reflect on the phase when stomach illness kept him away from nets, Padikkal said, “I have always believed that discipline is the key to success. During sickness, I couldn’t do much, but I made sure I was not lagging behind in other areas. I continued to work on myself whether mentally or any other small thing.”

Indian cricket team player R. Ashwin during the practice session ahead of the India vs England final test match at HPCA Ground in Dharamshala on March 06, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

England may be licking its wounds but nurses hope of hurting India in pretty much English weather conditions here. This optimism rose in the week leading to the fifth and final Test starting on Thursday after a fresh spell of snowfall in the higher reaches triggered another round of cold wave.

After India took a series-clinching 3-1 lead at Ranchi, some golf-playing members of the England team travelled to Bengaluru while some others camped in Chandigarh before landing here. The weather that greeted them has surely lifted their spirits.

A start-stop-start pattern of play cannot be ruled out but the prevailing day temperature will suit the Englishmen more. In conditions helping seam bowling on a pitch — last used when Delhi defeated Himachal Pradesh in February — that could make the spinners smile, England’s skipper Ben Stokes will go in with pacers James Anderson and Mark Wood, left-arm spinner Tom Hartley and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir if he recovers from a sickness bug.

About the pitch, Stokes said, “Before we even got here we were probably thinking it was going to be a three-seamer-one-spinner attack but then when we saw the wicket and then saw it again today, I think going with two seamers and two spinners is probably the right call. We felt there would probably be a bit more grass on the wicket just because of where we are but overall I think the wicket looks an absolute belter.”

Looking at the positives from the tour, Stokes said “we progressed so much on this tour. You look at the players we came out here with. Hartley, Bashir… people couldn’t believe we’d picked them. Look at what they’ve managed to achieve on this trip. We’ve seen Ollie Pope, the innings he played; Ben Duckett changed as a player and a person. I am very, very happy as a captain.”

Stokes acknowledged that the Indians were better in the series. “When the game has been on the line, their skill has been a lot better than ours, whether that be India with the bat or India with the ball. It’s skill versus skill and in the moments that have mattered, since the first game, India have been better.”

Considering the return of Jasprit Bumrah and the conditions here, Rohit Sharma did not rule out a three-man pace attack instead of sticking to the tested spin-trio on a ‘used’ pitch.

The India skipper also indicated Devdutt Paddikal’s debut could wait by backed the struggling Rajat Patidar. “He hasn’t scored as many runs he would have liked to but the guy obviously has a lot of ability. He is a talent player. Very much new to Test cricket and we should give him some more time before making a judgement on him.”

The teams:

India (from): Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, R. Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, K.S. Bharat (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Axar Patel, and Mukesh Kumar.

England (XI): Ben Stokes (Capt.), Ben Foakes (wk), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir, and James Anderson.

Umpires: Joel Wilson and Rod Tucker; TV umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and J. Madanagopal; Match referee: Jeff Crowe.

Match starts at 9.30 a.m.

India’s captain Rohit Sharma.
| Photo Credit: PTI

A relaxed Rohit Sharma, with the series in the bag, was at his candid best as he reflected on the four Tests so far. He termed it “a series of comebacks” for his triumphant team. Rohit went on to admit that he did not know what Bazball meant. The India skipper was at his witty best on Wednesday.

When reminded of England opener Ben Duckett’s view that some of the Indian batters could be influenced by the Bazball, Rohit said: “There was this guy called Rishabh Pant in our team… probably, Ben Duckett hasn’t seen him bat.”

On the eve of the final Test, Rohit spoke about the lessons learnt.

“I didn’t study much in school but I do study the opposition a lot while playing cricket. I enjoy that process of learning as a batter and captain. Ahead of any series, I have always tried to understand both teams and plan accordingly. I have multiple duties. Firstly, I am a batter. If I get out, I need to plan who to promote up the order. On the field, it’s about gauging the wicket according to our bowling strength.

“This is a series of comebacks and we made good comebacks, from being down in one session to dominating the next. After losing the first Test, despite being ahead in the game, we absorbed pressure and put it back on the opposition.

“This has been satisfying, especially with a group of boys who have not been under such pressure. International cricket pressure is different and Test cricket is totally different. A lot of players handled it well, stabilised the team and put it ahead. The last Test was a perfect example of our good comebacks.”

Rohit’s take on Bazball was also candid. “I honestly don’t know what Bazball means — whether it is to go and strike, whether it’s to defend or wait for a loose ball. I haven’t seen wild swings from anyone. England have played better cricket than the last series that they played here. You got to give credit to their batters who got big hundreds here. They applied their methods to get success and they got it.

“I still don’t know what that (Bazball) means.”

Jasprit Bumrah returns to the Indian squad for the fifth Test against England in Dharamsala.
| Photo Credit: Gareth Copley

Senior India batter KL Rahul will not feature in the fifth and final Test against England in Dharamsala owing to an injury while pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will return to the team, the BCCI said on February 29.

Rahul, who continues to feel sore in his right quadriceps, has travelled to London to get an expert opinion on his injury.

The wicketkeeper-batter became unavailable after the series-opener in Hyderabad in January and as per the BCCI, he was 90 per cent fit before the third Test in Rajkot earlier this month.

“Mr. KL Rahul, whose participation in the final IDFC First Bank Test was subject to fitness, has been ruled out of the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring him and coordinating with specialists in London for further management of his issue,” the Board said in a release.

Meanwhile Bumrah, who was released from the squad for the fourth Test in Ranchi in line with the team’s workload management policy, will link up with the squad in Dharamsala for the final Test, beginning March 7.

India have already taken an unassailable 3-1 lead, following the victory in the fourth Test in Ranchi.

Rahul’s absence from the final Test means Rajat Patidar remained with the squad but the MP batter can’t be sure of his place in the playing eleven, having aggregated only 63 runs in six innings.

All-rounder Washington Sundar has also been released from the squad.

“He will join Tamil Nadu — his Ranji Trophy side — for their Ranji Trophy semifinal fixture against Mumbai, starting March 2, 2024. He will join the India squad after the completion of the domestic fixture for the fifth Test, if need be,” the BCCI said.

Rahul needs to be fully fit before the IPL where he will lead Lucknow Super Giants and is expected to bat in the middle order to bolster his chances of making the India squad for the T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean.

It is the same quadriceps injury that had sidelined Rahul for almost four months last year.

Having got injured during the IPL, Rahul returned to action during the Asia Cup in September last and made instant impact. In the Test tour of South Africa last year, Rahul was the only century-maker for India in the drawn series.

The BCCI also said senior pacer Mohammed Shami is recovering well after undergoing a surgery on February 26 for his right heel problem.

“He is recovering well and will soon head to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to commence his rehabilitation process,” the Board said of Shami.

India’s updated squad for fifth Test

Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.