BCCI president Sourav Ganguly refrained from commenting on the issue related to young opener Shubman Gill, stating it is solely the team management’s call to decide whether they require an adequate replacement for the England series or not.
Gill has reportedly sustained a leg injury on the tour of UK since India’s loss in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton. But, despite the challenging England series looming, there has been no official announcement of the same from the BCCI, with no replacement confirmed.
The team management, including skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri, seems to have assessed Gill’s injury such that there is hope for his availability at some stage of the five-match Test series.
If Gill is not fit for the first Test at Trent Bridge, India have the option of picking one of Mayank Agarwal or KL Rahul, who can also fill in as a middle-order batsman if required. Experienced Rohit Sharma is a sure starter at the top of the order.
When asked for his views on the Gill issue, left the onus on the selection committee and the team management. Ganguly also said he doesn’t interfere in the selection matters.
“I don’t interfere in all these matters. Team Management will decide this,”
he said in an interview with News18.
Reports have done the rounds that the team management had asked for Prithvi Shaw and one other opening candidate to fly across to England. But Shaw is currently in Sri Lanka for the limited-overs tour with an alternate Indian white-ball squad led by Shikhar Dhawan and would have to undergo a lengthy isolation phase before being allowed to enter England.
The talks of Shaw being asked to board the England flight came to light even as Bengal opening batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran is part of the standbys in the UK.
Gill’s injury is a setback for the prodigiously talented right-hand batsman, who made an excellent start to his Test career in Australia last winter before enduring a difficult series at home against England.
The Indian team, having completed their break after the WTC final, have reached Durham to initiate their pre-series preparations. In Durham, they willll also play a three-day warm-up game against a County Select XI from Tuesday. The practice match will give a hint as to who Kohli and company have identified as Rohit’s partner for the start of the Test series. The first Test against England begins on August 4.
