Colombo: With multiple injuries to the Virat Kohli-led Indian side in the UK ahead of the five-match Test series against England, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to send injury replacements. As per a report in The Indian Express, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jayant Yadav would travel to the UK to join Kohli and Co.
The same report suggests that the team management had asked for two openers and a spinner as replacements for the three injured players – Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill, and Avesh Khan.
The report also claims that Suryakumar Yadav is likely to be picked as a cover for Ajinkya Rahane – who is recovering from a hamstring injury. The team did not ask for a like-for-like backup for Avesh Khan because they already have ample pacers.
Shaw and Suryakumar are in Sri Lanka for the white-ball series, while Jayant Yadav is in India. BCCI had earlier turned down the request of the team management to send Shaw as a replacement for Gill. With the list of injured players on the rise, seems like BCCI was left with minimal options.
In all probability, Mayank Agarwal – who is in the UK with the team – would join Rohit Sharma at the top. Bengal’s Abhimanyu Easwaran is also in there as a backup option.
Earlier in the UK, India lost the inaugural World Test Championship final versus New Zealand by eight wickets. The Indian team recently played a three-day warm-up game against Select County to get acclimitised to the English conditions.
The first Test starts on August 4 at Trent Bridge.