Gautam Gambhir flew back home due to a family emergency ahead of the intra-squad game.
According to a PTI report, Gambhir had to fly back to attend to his mother, who suffered a heart attack and is in ICU in a Delhi hospital.
In his absence, batting great VVS Laxman has been spotted in and around the Indian team over the past two days. Laxman is officially associated with the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, a report published in Cricbuzz claims that Laxman has not been assigned any official role by the BCCI.
"He has gone there for some other purpose, not on any assignment with the Indian team. He travelled to London from Lausanne," the report quoted a source as saying.
The report went on to quote another source as saying: "The target is to win in England, and he may have spoken to the coaches and selectors present here, and perhaps even attended the intra-squad game. But he holds no official role with this team."
"He went to Switzerland and simply stopped by in London to spend time with the boys. It was always part of his plan," another source said.
Gambhir is expected to join the Indian squad on Monday (June 16). If not, he will certainly return to England before the first Test in Leeds, scheduled to start on June 20.
“He will definitely rejoin the team before the first Test. He has consulted the doctors about his mother’s condition, which has improved, although she continues to be in the ICU. But he will plan his return soon,” said a source close to Gambhir.
India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.