Team India have suffered a big blow ahead of the third Test against England in Rajkot as key batter KL Rahul has been ruled out of the match.

Rahul, who missed the second Test in Vizag due to a quadricep injury, was added to India’s squad along with Ravindra Jadeja for the remaining three Tests. However, their participation was subject to fitness clearance from BCCI's medical team.

"The national selection committee included senior players Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul in the squad but their inclusion will be subject to clearance by the BCCI's medical team," the board had said in its official squad release.

With three days remaining for the Rajkot Test, a report published in The Indian Express claimed that Rahul is yet to regain complete fitness while Jadeja, who picked up a hamstring injury in the series opener, has been given the green signal to take the field.

According to the report, the medical team has told the selectors that they would observe Rahul for one more week to take a call on his availability.

The report further claimed that Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal will replace KL Rahul in the Test squad.

The left-hander has been in fine form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, registering scores of 193, 42, 31, 103, 151 and 36. He also slammed a century (105) against the England Lions in a four-day match in Ahmedabad last month.

Coming to the Indian squad, star batter Virat Kohli remained unavailable for the remainder of the series due to ‘personal reasons’.

In Kohli's absence, Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar retained their place in the side while middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer was a notable absentee in the squad.

After the first two Tests, the five-match series is evenly poised at 1-1. While England won the series opener in Hyderabad by 28 runs, the hosts bounced back to win the second Test in Vizag by 106 runs.

The third Test match is slated to get underway on February 15.

(The Indian Express Inputs)