Suryakumar Yadav has received his maiden Test team call-up and he along with opener Prithvi Shaw will be flying to England as replacements sought by the team management after three players were ruled out due to injury.

Replacements for the three injured players-

The Indian team management had asked for two openers and one off-spinner as replacements for the three injured players; opener Shubman Gill, all-rounder Washington Sundar, and fast bowler Avesh Khan. It is learned that the team management wanted Shaw, Yadav, and Jayant Yadav, who can also bat.

Shubhman Gill-

While Shubman was ruled out due to shin splints suffered during the World Test Championship final against New Zealand.

Avesh Khan-

Avesh dislocated a thumb during the warm-up game against County XI. Washington aggravated his finger injury. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it is learned, is making plans to fly the players to England.

Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav are currently in Sri Lanka where they are playing a limited over series, whereas Jayant Yadav is in India.

The BCCI has changed its mind-

The Indian team had earlier asked for Shaw as a replacement for Gill but the request was turned down by the BCCI. But with the injury list increasing, the BCCI has changed its mind. Opener Mayank Agarwal is part of the team and so is Rohit Sharma. Abhimanyu Easwaran is a standby.

A senior BCCI office-bearer confirmed the development-

“Yes, Prithvi and Surya are flying to the UK from Sri Lanka. Jayant was also supposed to go but there has been some change in plans due to quarantine requirements. Jayant is now not going. Both players will have a bubble to bubble transfer from Colombo to London. Whether they will fly in the middle of the T20 Internationals (Shaw and Suryakumar are part of a team in Sri Lanka) or post that is being worked out,” the senior official told PTI.

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“But yes, they are our replacement players for the Test series in England. They might just leave after the three T20 Internationals but we will get a confirmation in another three days.”

Suryakumar’s assertive batting could be used during some point in the series as Ajinkya Rahane’s hamstring injury will keep the team concerned.

“In any case, if Ajinkya misses the first Test, it will be KL Rahul who will bat in the middle-order in Nottingham. The team management is still confident that Ajinkya might be alright before the Nottingham Test.”