21-year-old Prithvi Shaw might be considered as a possible replacement for injured Shubman Gill in England series. Shaw is currently with another Indian squad to play a white ball series in Sri Lanka. If the need arises, he can be flown out to UK for the five-match Test series against England.
Shubman Gill, the primary choice for the opening slot, is reportedly injured. He will most likely be flown out to India for treatment. Gill has suffered shin splints that are a result of stress-related workload. Although this is common for professional athletes, he will not be taking part for 6-8 weeks.
The Indian contingent did go to the UK with a couple of backup opener options. While Mayank Agarwal seems like the best choice, 25-year-old Abhimanyu Easwaran is also in the fray as a standby.
Prithvi Shaw is in outstanding form right now
Prithvi Shaw was on the decline in Tests after sub-par tours of New Zealand and Australia. He went back to domestic cricket to hone his skills. Shaw ended up doing so and became the first cricketer to score 800+ runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The IPL saw the reformed Prithvi as well, where he teamed up with Shikhar Dhawan to wreak havoc at the top of the order. In the latest development, a source stated that Prithvi Shaw could be flown to England if possible.
“Here is a batsman in absolute form right now playing an inconsequential series [in Sri Lanka]. He can be in England and the team will [then] have a cushion to fall back on. It’s been five days now and the selectors haven’t blinked yet,” the source said.
While reckoning that Abhimanyu Easwaran hasn’t played as much in recent times, the source said relying on Prithvi Shaw would be the most sensible thing in a series as important as the one coming up.
Team India looking at Prithvi Shaw ahead of Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran for England tour
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.#TeamIndia #PrithviShaw #BCCI pic.twitter.com/7VxGiKYwqv— CricFit (@CricFit) July 3, 2021
“As against having to fall back on Easwaran who last did his bit in the First-Class season more than two season ago, isn’t it more sensible to have Prithvi who’s in form and the elements to his batting well-documented already? The team knows Prithvi, understand Prithvi. If they think he should be in England, then there’s no reason why the BCCI should not be sending him,” the source was quoted as saying.
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