India Tour of England – Team Management want replacements, will BCCI oblige? The 5 match test series with England is still 2 weeks away but Virat Kohli’s team India is already suffering. Reason, they have lost 3 players in the Indian squad to injuries with series yet to start. InsideSport.co has learnt from the sources that the Indian team management in England has requested BCCI for the replacements for Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill & Avesh Khan.
It is worth noting that BCCI had sent 24 players to England for the tour – out of that 3 are now injured. Not only this, but team in past few days have also suffered at the hands of Covid-19. One of the most prominent member of the team Rishabh Pant had just joined the team on Thursday after recovering from Covid.
Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha & back up opener Abhimanyu Easwaran were also under quarantine and will join the team today.
Coach Ravi Shastri & Virat Kohli is now a worried lot that some more injuries or Covid-19 related issues will severely dent their chances in the series and that is reason they have asked for replacements for the injured players.
Also Read: India vs Select County XI: Avesh Khan ruled out of practice…
“Team management has asked for the replacements but we need to see how to send them to England. Selectors will decide on the names if required. We will arrange for the logistics post that”, declared one of the senior BCCI official to InsideSport.co
India Tour of England: Team India management requests BCCI for replacements as injuries rule out Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan of England tour
India Tour of England – Team Management want replacements, will BCCI oblige? InsideSport has also learnt that the team management wants Prithvi Shaw, Krishna Gowtham & Bhuvneshwar Kumar as back up players for the England series.
Most of the top players who are not part of the England squad are currently playing in Sri Lanka. According to the BCCI official, amid Covid-19 scare – it will not be easy for them to send the selected ones to England on time.
“Selection if required will only be done by the selectors. BCCI or the team management can’t impose anything on the selectors. But in the current circumstances it is not easy to send players to England”, said the BCCI official.
Why it will be difficult for BCCI to fly the players to England on time?
– Covid-19 related protocols of both United Kingdom & England & Wales Cricket Board are such that no player can join the team instantly.
– Like India, Sri Lanka currently is also on the ‘Red List’ for the UK government.
– Any player going from Sri Lanka to England will not be easy. As per the UK Government norm, player will have to get into 12 Days Quarantine before he is allowed to join the team in England.
Meanwhile it is worth noting that the selectors had already turned down the request of the Indian team management to send Prithvi Shaw as a replacement of Shubman Gill. Now with 3 players injured, selectors are likely to refurbish the squad with some new additions.
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