Cricket News

This star player to be added to the Indian Test squad ahead of the 5th Test vs England

The fifth Test of the India vs England Test series has got everyone excited as India is on the brink of creating history by winning a series in England after 15 years. But just before the start of the tour, the team has suffered a big blow. KL Rahul hasn’t recovered from his groin injury and won’t be available for the entire England tour. According to a report at InsideSport, Mayank Agarwal is expected to replace him in the squad.

“Mayank has been put on standby for England tour. We have asked the team management if they need a replacement for Rahul. We should get an answer by 19th. In that case, Mayank will fly to UK with the second batch. But it’s not finalised yet. Rishabh will be vice-captain,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.in

The injury to the star player has come as a big blow to the Indian team as he was the second-highest run-scorer for India in the Test series, with 315 runs to his name, including a century at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground.

Mayank, on the other hand, hasn’t played a single Test match in the testing conditions of England, which is also considered as the toughest place to bat for the openers. The reason why Agarwal has not been officially added to the squad for the one-off Test as Shubhman Gill will most likely open with Rohit Sharma. But the Indian Cricket Board don’t want to take any chances hence he’s been kept as a stand-by.

“Look, it’s very simple. The team always has certain plans with certain players. For example, Hanuma gives strength to the middle-order and if we push him to open if god forbid Shubman gets injured, the balance will be lost. It’s important that we have options ready in adverse situations,” the BCCI official told InsideSport.

The rescheduled fifth Test of the series will be played in Birmingham from 1^st July. India are leading the series with 2-1.

India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Standby: Mayank Agarwal