Indian opener Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the entire Test series against England due to an injury. Gill has suffered a shin stress fracture which is likely to keep him out of action for the next three months. Gill was India’s first-choice opener with senior batsman Rohit Sharma in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand.
However, he is unlikely to feature in the upcoming five-match Test series against England which gets underway from next month. A BCCI official recently confirmed that Gill’s injury is expected to take at least three months to heal and that the team management has already requested for two openers to be sent to the UK.
“Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the entire Test series in the UK with shin splints that will take minimum of three months to heal. The team’s administrative manager, at the end of last month, had sent an e-mailed requisition to former pacer Sharma asking for two more openers to be sent to the UK,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by News18.
The two openers that are likely to be called up by the Indian team management are Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal, both of whom were in brilliant form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy followed by the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. While Shaw has played five Tests and 3 ODIs, Padikkal is not a capped player yet.
Both Shaw and Padikkal are currently part of the Indian squad for the upcoming limited-overs series against Sri Lanka. A second-string Indian side will take on Sri Lanka in three ODIs and three T20Is in the absence of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, who are currently in England.
However, the chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma is reportedly not in agreement with the team management for calling Shaw and Padikkal to England, and BCCI has not received a formal request yet to send the two players. The duo will leave for England after the conclusion of the Sri Lanka series on July 26 if they are called up.
“The BCCI president hasn’t yet received any formal request about sending Shaw and Padikkal to the United Kingdom. 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,” the BCCI source added.
Team India already have Mayank Agarwal and Abhimanyu Easwaran as two backup openers in the Test squad for the England series.
