Thus, Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal are set to open for the visitors with Bengal batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran as the standby opening batsman, who travelled with the side as reserves. Amid reports suggesting that Prithvi Shaw could replace Gill in the squad, the BCCI will now have to make do with a 23-player squad with Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul set to feature in the XI. "When Prithvi Shaw was not considered in the pool of 24 players who travelled, why should it be any different now," a BCCI source told The Times of India. Both Shaw and Padikkal are in Sri Lanka for the limited-overs tour. "As for Devdutt Padikkal, well, he’s a great talent but doesn’t deserve to be pushed to the wall like this.

Source: dna July 08, 2021 08:15 UTC