India Tour of England: Since the day Shubman Gill’s stress fracture on the left shin has come to the fore, rumours have been ripe about Prithvi Shaw’s imminent departure from Sri Lanka and take the flight to England as a replacement. But former India captain Kapil Dev isn’t happy with the idea. He believes it sends a wrong message to the other players in the team, especially with Mayank Agarwal and Abhimanyu Easwaran warming the bench as backup options for Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in the 5-match Test series against Joe Root’s England.
As per reports, Virat Kohli and the team management want Prithvi Shaw to leave the inconsequential Sri Lanka series and join the squad in England. To be in for the 1st Test, starting August 4, Shaw will need to leave as soon as possible as he will need to complete 14-day mandatory quarantine. However, neither BCCI nor the India team management have offered any official comment on the matter. Even the nature of Shubman Gill’s injury has remained a mystery. InsideSport has learnt that he will be sent home to recover and will miss the five-match Test series.
“I don’t think there is any need for it. There should be some respect for the selectors too. They have picked a team and I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened without their (Shastri and Kohli) consultation. I mean, you have two such big opening batsmen in KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. Do you really need a third option? I don’t think it’s right,” Kapil Dev said on the ‘Wah Cricket’ show on ABP News.
The World Cup-winning captain believes it will be an insult on the two players already in the squad. “I’m not convinced with this theory. The team that they’ve picked already has openers so I think they should be the ones to play. Otherwise, it’s insulting for the players who are already in the team,” Kapil Dev said.
India Tour of England: Why Prithvi Shaw is the No 1 choice after Mayank Agarwal?
- The sheer number of runs (827) Shaw scored in the Vijay Hazare Trophy forced everyone to take notice since being dropped from the Australia tour.
- In VJT, he scored 827 runs at an average of 165.40 including 3 centuries one double century and a half-century in eight innings.
- Prithvi Shaw worked on his technique and it worked in the IPL 2021 too.
- In eight matches, Shaw scored 308 runs at an average of 38.50 and a strike rate of 166.48, turning out to be his best IPL season so far.
- Has international experience and a Test hundred — something that Easwaran lacks.
“Here is a batsman (Shaw) in absolute form right now, playing an inconsequential series (in Sri Lanka) whereas he can be in England and the team will have a cushion to fall back on. As against having to fall back on a batsman (Easwaran) who last did his bit in the First-Class circuit more than two seasons ago and not many have seen much of lately, isn’t it more sensible to have a batsman (Prithvi) who’s in form and the elements to his batting well-documented already? The team knows Prithvi, understands Prithvi. If they think he should be in England, then there’s no reason why the BCCI should not be sending him,” sources told TOI.