According to latest reports Prithvi Shaw could replace the injured Shubhman Gill for the England tour. After the news came out that Gill has had a calf injury and he will be out of the cricket field for close to 8 weeks, his participation in the series looks doubtful. Hence, Shaw is the man who could replace Gill as an opener for the test series of 5 matches.
As per the original plans of team India, Shubhman Gill was to open for Indian team with Rohit Sharma vs England. However that plan has been thrown into disarray by the calf injury of the 21 year old opener. The other openers for this tour are Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul while Abhimanyu Easwaran is one amongst the four reserved players.
The brightest chance to open the Indian innings in the first test alongside Rohit Sharma would be for Mayank Agarwal. The right hander from Karnataka had a brilliant start to international career. He had an amazing debut in Australia where he batted with confidence and panache. In the following series at home vs South Africa he hit his peak form. Both he and Rohit opened the innings and absolutely pinned down the Proteas bowlers into dust. Both of them managed a century and a double century in the series.
Shaw to replace Gill ?
However he lost his form and was replaced by Shubhman Gill. Now with Gill injured, Agarwal would look to perform and take back his spot as an opener.
Chances of KL Rahul and Easwaran getting tried as opener looks difficult. While the team management wants KL Rahul in the middle order, Easwaran is yet to have a debut. Hence, they do not want to risk him facing the dangerous duo of Anderson and Broad. This is exactly the reason why Shaw can fly to England as a reserved opener for Gill.
The diminutive right hander knows what international cricket feels like after having played cricket in India, New Zealand and Australia. He may not have had the most impressive outings in the latter two countries but then he has shown form in the last few months. First he ransacked more than 800 runs in Vijay Hazare trophy at a ridiculous average of 165 and then carried the form in the IPL. He was amongst the top run getters for his side Delhi Capitals.
Currently Shaw is in Sri Lanka with the Indian team gearing up for the limited overs series.
