Durham: Mayank Agarwal’s fight to regain his place in the Indian Test eleven starts on Tuesday when he walks to the opening field after a three-day match against ‘County Select XI’, and starts here tomorrow as best friend KL Rahul act to keep wickets in Rishabh Pant’s. absence.
The match was awarded first class status, a first for India in many years since Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over as captain. The Jharkhand dasher believed that an ‘official match’ robbed all players to get some time. However, the team management wanted a proper first-class match to get in the groove before the start of the Test series next month.
According to BCCI sources, Pant, which tested positive for COVID-19, has completed his scheduled 10-day seclusion in a London acquaintance and is “recovering well”, but is yet to take part in the team bubble in Durham. ‘Even if Pant had reached the practice match in time, he would have had enough rest to get back into a physical condition.
He was asymptomatic, but he would have to train well before the first Test in Nottingham, ‘said a senior BCCI official. “In any case, Pant and Wriddhiman, who are being isolated as a precautionary measure, will be available for the first test.”
As previously reported, KL Rahul, who is doing the exercise, will be putting on the big gloves for the game. However, it will be Mayank, whose form will be closely followed by the team management, as he is likely to be alongside Rohit Sharma in the first Test after Shubman Gill was ruled out of the series with the shin.
Mayank was not yet in top form in Australia and lost his place to Rohit, who missed the first two Tests Down Under. While Rahul also scored a large portion of his 2000 runs, he considered the innings a middle-order batsman and could be used later in the series as one of the senior batsmen (read Ajinkya Rahane) not coming back to form.
Against a team made up mostly of youngsters, with only James Bracey as a current English international, India might just try Rahul and Mayank if they get a second innings. The match is a three-day affair, and the likelihood of that is not great.
In the bowling division, Mohammed Siraj wants to give himself a thorough account and Jasprit Bumrah will not mind getting a few wickets under control, just as Ravichandran Ashwin did for Surrey last week.
Source: Telangana Today