KL Rahul will be wicket-keeping for the Indians in their three-day warm-up match against Select County XI at Chester-le-Street from July 20, with Rishabh Pant yet to add to the team in Durham after testing positive for Covid-19. on 8 July.
Wriddhiman Saha is also under quarantine in London, with Rahul set to slot behind the stumps in the only practice match for the visitors ahead of the five-Test series starting on August 4.
It could not be confirmed why Pant did not attend the camp in Durham - is he still recovering or the team's medical experts want him to take more rest. It is also unclear when Pant will join the squad, although he is expected to be available for selection for the first Test at Trent Bridge.
On July 15, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media statement that Pant was asymptomatic but was "close to completing" his ten-day quarantine period set by Public Health England for all those who have tested positive for COVID-19. test positive for or who are identified as close contacts. Pant will have finished his isolation by July 18 and will be fit to join the team, subject to passing two COVID-19 tests.
After the Indians' three-week break, a day after the World Test Championship final that ended on June 23, Pant had walked out of the team hotel and Shah later confirmed that Pant had tested positive outside the team's bio-secure bubble. did.
So far, Pant and Dayanand Garani, a support staff member, are the two members of the Indian contingent to test positive. This development came after Indians were given their second Covid-19 vaccines in London on 7 July. Garani, who works as a throwdown specialist as well as a masseuse, tested positive on July 14. As a result, the BCCI medical team kept him. The separation with bowling coach Bharat Arun (and his family, who is traveling with him), Saha and reserve opening batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran, were all identified as close contacts of Garani. The group is currently in London and will be tested for COVID-19 on 20 and 22 July before traveling to Durham.
Another chance for Rahul
It is a new opportunity for Rahul to throw his hat into the mix to earn a place in the XI for the Test series, especially after Shubman Gill was ruled out of the series due to a lower left leg injury. Gill, who scored 28 and 8 in the WTC final against New Zealand, is understood to have suffered a stress-related injury and is likely to stay in England but not with the Indian team.
Mayank Agarwal and Rahul are the two opening options along with Rohit Sharma. While Agarwal played as both an opener and a middle-order batsman during the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Rahul had to return to India after suffering a wrist sprain ahead of the Sydney Test in January. Though Rahul was part of the squad for the home Test series against England, he did not get a chance.
Rahul's last Test was the second Test of the 2019 series in the West Indies. Since then he has played just one first-class match: the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy semi-final for Karnataka against Bengal.
Warm-up games will be held behind closed doors
The warm-up match will be the first game for the Indian players since the WTC final, except for R Ashwin, who recently played a one-off County Championship match for Surrey, hitting a six in the second innings against Somerset.
The ECB announced a 14-man County Select XI squad on 16 July – to be led by Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes and initially consisted of the pairing of James Bracey and Haseeb Hameed, both in position to claim a spot in England. Were. Test Team.
However, Bracey has been ruled out of stability as a close contact of a positive COVID case. He did not join the squad at Durham and the ECB confirmed that it was too late to 'pull' a player in as a replacement. As a result, 17-year-old Somerset Academy player James Ray is set to pick up the wicketkeeping gloves.