England vs India : No replacement for Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal to open alongside Rohit Sharma

With Shubman Gill ruled out of the England tour, there were reports that team management has requested the BCCI to send Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal to England as backup openers. However, the board has made it clear that the Indian team has to manage with the resources available in England.

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India have enough backup in the opening slot with Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul at disposal. The former is likely to be the first choice to open alongside Rohit Shama. Prthvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal’s names started doing rounds after their sizzling performances in the Vijay Hazare trophy. The duo is part of the Indian squad that’ll take on Sri Lanka in three ODIs and as many T20Is.

Also read: England vs India : Mohammed Siraj set to replace Ishant Sharma in playing XI - Sky247 Blog

Talking about Prithi Shaw, a BCCI source reckoned that Shaw needs to do the hard yards in domestic cricket and prove his consistency if he wants a slot in the Indian Test squad. Shaw was dropped from the Indian team following his miserable outings on the tours to New Zealand and Australia.

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“He really needs to pull up his socks if he fancies himself in Tests. The opportunities so far, his own commitment to the format – they’ve all not matched up to the potential he’s shown. There’s work to do,” quoted a BCCI source.

As for Devdutt Padikkal, the source believes the southpaw is a talented cricketer but there is no need to force him into the team. “As for Devdutt Padikkal, well, he’s a great talent but doesn’t deserve to be pushed to the wall like this. His time will come,” stated the BCCI source.

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