Indian opener Mayank Aggarwal has been ruled out of the first test of the upcoming series between India and England which starts from 4th August. Opener Shubman Gill has been India’s first choice opener ever since making his debut for the Indian test team but due to a stress based injury on his shin, the youngster has already been ruled out of the entire tour against England. Mayank Aggarwal was thus being considered as the most obvious option to replace Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner. Now that the Punjab Kings batsman has been ruled out of the first test, the management must act quickly and find a good replacement for him too (just for the first test though).
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In an official statement that was released on BCCI’s official website just a few minutes back, BCCI Honorary secretary Jay Shah confirmed the same. “Opening batsman Mayank Agarwal was hit on the helmet while batting during India’s nets session at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Monday.The BCCI Medical Team assessed him, and a concussion test was conducted. He has shown signs of concussion and is ruled out of the opening Test against England. The 30-year-old is stable and will remain under close medical observation,” the release said.
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It was earlier rumoured that opener Prithvi Shaw and middle order batsman Suryakumar Yadav will fly to England from Sri Lanka to join the rest of the test squad but Krunal Pandya testing positive for COVID-19 has changed the entire dynamics and the two of them will have to maintain at least a week of quarantine before they can join the rest of the test squad. Under such circumstances, KL Rahul might prove to be the best opening partner for Rohit Sharma. Rahul played a brilliant knock in the recent practice test match between India and County Select XI.