Ahead of the first Test against England, Team India have suffered a big blow as opening batsman Mayank Agarwal has been ruled out of the game after taking a blow on his helmet.
Last month, the visitors lost the services of talented opener Shubman Gill due to shin injury and Prithvi Shaw has been named his replacement.
On the eve of the series opener, however, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said they are not too concerned about the injuries as the squad has enough depth.
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After Agarwal’s unavailability, KL Rahul, who donned the keeping gloves and batted in the middle-order in the warm-up game, could be asked to open the innings while Bengal’s Abhimanyu Easwaran is the other back-up option for the opening slot.
"We will announce the XI tomorrow before we go for the toss, so you can know who is opening with Rohit. We are absolutely fine and happy with where we are placed," Kohli said during a virtual press conference, as quoted by ANI.
The Indian team is heading into the series on the back of a World Test Championship (WTC) final defeat at the hands of New Zealand even though the game was marred by inclement weather.
When asked how India can overcome those bad 2-2.5 hours which have ended up costing them the games, Kohli said: "Of course, as a team, we look to improve the things we have not done well. And that is one aspect of the game we need to get better at, and that is understanding how to control the damage when things are not going well. That's what Test cricket is all about, you cannot have all sessions go your way. We know exactly what we need to do and it all boils down to execution."
The Indian captain also dropped a hint that Shardul Thakur's impressive lower-order batting could be used during the marquee series against England.
"He already is a multi-dimensional cricketer and it is all about him getting more and more confidence. Someone like him brings balance to the side, Hardik Pandya has done for us in the past, right now he is getting on track to bowling regularly. These kinds of cricketers help the team in a massive way. Shardul is a huge prospect for us, he will be important to us not just in this series, but going ahead as well."
According to Virat Kohli, Indian team would be prepared well for the upcoming series, having spent almost two months in England.
"I have never really played for any landmarks or milestones in my career. This is again, every game of international cricket has been an opportunity for me to test my character and how strong I am. Things are going to be no different in this series as well, we are going to play with the same passion and commitment and the same belief we play every series with me. In my opinion, some series matter more than others, I do not really believe in these things because you are then picking and choosing what you want to do," he said.
"We are definitely much better prepared than we have been in the past. The situation has you rightly said allowed us to acclimatise with the weather firstly, it can change quite quickly here. At the same time, playing under different conditions in terms of weather, whether it is overcast or sunny. All those kinds of things are going to add to our experience. But you can have all the experience in the world but it all boils down to execution, as long as we embrace that, we will find the answers to every question that is being thrown at us," he further remarked.
India’s last Test series victory on English soil came in 2007 under Rahul Dravid's captaincy. Since then, they have toured England thrice (2011, 2014, and 2018) but suffered demoralizing defeats on each occasion.
(With ANI inputs)
