Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI
Team India have been handed a major blow ahead of the highly-anticipated Test series against England. As Virat Kohli's side begins their campaign for next cycle of World Test Championship, they will be without the services of their young dynamic opener - Shubman Gill.
It was earlier reported that the 21-year-old will miss the opening Test against England due to an internal injury. However, the magnitude of the injury has been revealed to be much more than what was initially revealed as the latest reports state that Gill has been ruled out of the entire 5-match series with shin splits which will take a minimum of three months to heal.
“Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the entire Test series in the UK with shin splints that will take minimum three months to heal,” a senior BCCI source was quoted saying to PTI.
Will BCCI send replacement for Shubman Gill?
Knowing the extent of Gill’s injury, a BCCI source confirmed to PTI that team’s administrative manager had sent an email to chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma last week, asking for two more openers to be sent to England. Notably, the players in question are youngsters Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal.
However, the source confirmed that BCCI President hasn’t yet received any formal request about sending the duo to the United Kingdom. He said, “They are in Sri Lanka for the white ball series but obviously after it ends on July 26, both can be flown in. But I think team management wants them to join before entering the bio-bubble in Durham (on July 15).”
It must be noted that Team India already have Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul in the squad. Additionally, they also have right-handed batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran within their ranks as the 25-year-old has travelled with the team as a back-up player. It will be interesting to see if BCCI actually decides to send another opener to England.