India vs England: Mayank Agarwal in contention to open with Rohit Sharma

Mayanak Agarwal to open: With Shubman Gill on the sidelines due to an injury to his leg, there were speculations that Pritvhi Shaw might get the green light to head into the squad, and straight into the eleven that takes on England within a month’s time. However, the BCCI had recently dismissed the team management’s plea of having an additional player outside of the squad that was already named.

Mayank Agarwal to get the nod

As a result of the recent situation, it is Mayank Agarwal who is highly in contention to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma. In spite of Agarwal not featuring in the WTC Final versus New Zealand, the 30-year-old has scored 1052 runs from 14 Tests which include three fifties, four hundreds and an average of 45. KL Rahul and newcomer Abhimanyu Easwaran are the other options who can be considered as well.

Although, there were plenty of fans and experts who thought that Shaw’s inclusion could strengthen the team, one of the BCCI officials had other thoughts.

“When Prithvi Shaw was not considered in the pool of 24 players who traveled, why should it be any different now,” the official said.

Keeping aside Prihvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal was another candidate who could have got picked for England. Both sets of batsmen are currently in Sri Lanka for the white-ball series which starts from July 13. The campaign with Sri Lanka ends on July 26, and having them move to the United Kingdom before heading to the bio-bubble in Durham creates further complications.

Paddikal has also been one of the standout figures in Domestic Cricket, as well as in the IPL. The BCCI believe that Devdutt Padikkal is one for the future, and will get his chance soon enough.

“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,” the official added.

? SOUND ON!

3⃣0⃣ seconds of the birthday boy timing the ball to perfection in the nets ? ?

Happy birthday, @devdpd07! ??#TeamIndia #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/dTh0E6bffu

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 7, 2021

India vs England: Team India Squad

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha

Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla

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