NEW DELHI: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has decided to send Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav to England as backup for the five-Test series after Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar and Avesh Khan returned home due to injuries.
TOI has learnt that a call on Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s participation in Test cricket will be taken after the T20 World Cup in Oct-Nov this year. The team management had been keen to avail his services before it left for England to play the World Test Championship final last month and his name as a replacement was also discussed.
“The board had a discussion with Bhuvneshwar. It has been decided that he won’t be pushed to play Test cricket before the T20 World Cup. He has to first play three-four First-Class games. He hasn’t played the longer format for over three years. There’s a chance of him breaking down if he suddenly resumes playing Test cricket,” a top BCCI official told TOI.
It’s likely that a call on Bhuvneshwar will be taken before the tour of South Africa in December.
As for Prithvi and Surya, the logistics of their travel is being worked out. Anyway, they will be available from the second Test onwards after undergoing their quarantine in England.
