The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to send opener Prithvi Shaw, middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav and off-spinner Jayant Yadav to England as replacements for injured players, The Indian Express reported on Friday (July 23).

Earlier this week, young opener Shubman Gill returned from UK after sustaining a shin injury and the duo of Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar recently suffered injuries while playing in the warm-up match for County Select XI.

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According to the report, the team management wanted Shaw, Suryakumar and Jayant, who can also bat and the Indian board is making plans to fly the players to England.

Shaw and Suryakumar are currently in Sri Lanka with India’s white-ball team whereas Jayant is in India.

While BCCI selectors had turned down the team management's request to send a replacement for injured Gill earlier this month, Avesh and Sundar’s injuries have now prompted the board to reconsider its stance.

Notably, Indian team is travelling with an oversized squad and the natural openers in Mayank Agarwal and Abhimanyu Easwaran (standby player) are readily available for the five-Test series against England, starting August 4.

As per the report, Suryakumar Yadav is being picked because Ajinkya Rahane is struggling with a hamstring injury. India’s vice-captain didn’t feature in the three-day warm-up match against Select County XI.

The reason behind not asking for a like-for-like replacement for injured pacer Avesh Khan is because the visitors have enough fast bowlers in the squad. Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav are part of the fast bowling department.

(Inputs from The Indian Express)