India suffered a big blow when Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the rest of the New Zealand tour. The right-hander had hobbled off the field owing to a calf injury during his 60-runs innings in the fifth T20I against New Zealand and was not able to take the field when India bowled. It will now be interesting to see who will be named as replacements for India’s premier batsman in both ODIs as well as Test matches.
Here in this article we take a look at the possible candidates:
Mayank Agarwal
The Karnataka batsman has made a prolific start to his Test career and could find himself as Rohit’s replacement for the ODI series. He was flown in as a late addition to India’s World Cup squad last year. Mayank is currently in New Zealand where he is opening the innings for India A.
Shubman Gill
Another candidate who can find himself in both the ODI as well as Test squad is young Shubman Gill. He is a man in form and scored a stunning double hundred in the drawn Test against New Zealand A in the ongoing unofficial Test series. He was also part of India’s squad for the ODI series which took place last year in New Zealand.
Prithvi Shaw
Prithvi Shaw has already replaced Shikhar Dhawan in the ODI squad and now could find himself slotted back in the Test squad. He made a stellar start to his Test career with a man of the series performance in his debut series against West Indies. However, a spate of injuries and off-field controversies have kept him out of action. He too has been in superb form for India A against New Zealand A.
KL Rahul
Man of the series for India in the T20I series, KL Rahul could be the surprise addition to India’s Test side if the selectors want to pick a man in form. However, Rahul lost out his Test place after a mediocre Test series against West Indies last year and has fallen behind the pecking order as far as longest format is concerned.