Amid the injury concerns, Team India on Monday (July 26) heaved a sigh of relief as vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane started practising ahead of the five-match Test series against England, slated to start on August 4 in Nottingham.
Rahane was struggling with a hamstring niggle and missed out on India’s three-day warm-up fixture against County Select XI last week. In fact, he had received an injection to reduce the swelling and pain associated with the injury.
According to a PTI report, Rahane has returned to practice and apart from fielding and physical training sessions, he also had a proper net session at the Riverside Ground in Durham.
While Suryakumar Yadav is set to join India’s Test squad in England as a middle-order cover, Rahane's recovery is a good sign and the Indian vice-captain looks a certain starter for the Trent Bridge Test.
Apart from Suryakumar Yadav, opener Prithvi Shaw has been added to the Indian Test squad for the five-match series against England as replacements to injured players Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar.
However, the duo of Surya and Shaw are unlikely to reach Nottingham ahead of the series opener as they will have to serve hard quarantine before joining the bio-bubble.
In any case, if Rahane happened to miss out, KL Rahul will replace him in the middle-order. Notably, Rahul hit a ton in the practice match against County Select XI.
On the other hand, Mayank Agarwal is set to regain his opener's slot alongside the veteran Rohit Sharma.
(With PTI inputs)
