England vs. India: Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav are ready to sail to Great Britain for the Indian Test Team when Shubman Gill is excluded and Ajinkya Rahane is injured in the hamstring.
Suryakumar Yadav received his maiden test squad call up and he will fly to England with opener Prithvi Shaw as a team management substitute for three players who had been rejected for injury. Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, and Avesh Khan were pushed out of the tour. The test series will begin on 4 August. Shubman was excluded because of the bright splits during the World Test Championship against New Zealand. During the warm-up match versus County XI, Avesh dislocated a thumb. Washington exacerbated the damage on his finger.
Jayant Yadav, the off-spinner, was also expected to be a substitute of Washington in the UK, but it was learned that Suryakumar and Prithvi were now only sent.
The development was confirmed by a top BCCI office-bearer.
“Yes, Prithvi and Surya fly from Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom. Jayant was also meant to go, but due to quarantine regulations, there were some changes in plans. Jayant isn’t going now. Both players will have a Colombo-to-London bubble transfer. Whether they fly in the middle of the T20 Internationals (Shaw and Suryakumar belong to the team in Sri Lanka) or post, “PTI was told by the senior official.
“But sure, they are our test series replacement players in England. You may only depart after the three T20 Internationals but in another three days we would receive confirmation.”
It is thought that the form of Shaw impressed team managers, and the current rhythm of Mayank Agarwal is not terrific.
However, considering quarantine laws, it is not clear whether Suryakumar and Shaw can complete their harsh quarantine in time for the first test.
For Jayant, he was believed to have a test hundred for his exceptional batting ability. He was also regarded as a permanent net bowler unless Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja were injured in the long series. But for now, the initiative has been shelved.
Suryakumar’s forceful batting may be utilized sometime in the series because the hamstring injury of Ajinkya Rahane keeps the team involved.
“In any case, if Ajinkya misses the first test, it is KL Rahul who will bat in Nottingham’s middle order. The Team Management remains convinced that before the Nottingham Test Ajinkya could be all right.”
But now no pacer is sent, as there are already 7 speedsters in the UK for match and net sessions.
