With Shubman Gill ruled out of the England Test series and Rishabh Pant testing positive for COVID-19, India have realised the need to put together a larger group of players for the five-match series against England.

Impromptu setbacks in the form of injuries are likely on long tours, and in these COVID-19 times, teams have chosen to travel with large touring parties to accommodate for last-minute changes. India are carrying 24 players, four of them reserves in their Test squad, but will look to add a few more after recent developments.

Here’s a glance at who are in line to join the touring party in England.

KS Bharat

Bharat has been called up to the Test team before but is yet to make his India debut. With Rishabh Pant (positive) and Wriddhiman Saha (isolating), India’s only wicketkeeper, a part-timer at that, in the squad is Rahul, who might need to do the keeping duties in the warm-up game against a yet-to-be-decided opponent from July 20. India would want more security in that department, and it wouldn’t be an over-the-top move to call up Bharat as a reserve member. Bharat, who is a quality keeping option, has a first-class batting average of 37.24 with nine hundreds.

Prithvi Shaw

There were a few reports that suggested that India put in a request to add Shaw to the touring party in England as a replacement for Gill, who suffered a stress fracture. Shaw’s wild tour in Australia, where his technique was exposed by the Aussie quicks, notwithstanding, his domestic form has been outstanding as always, and India will hope to have him as a dynamic option upfront to put the pressure back on England’s new-ball bowlers if he does fly in and makes the XI.

Devdutt Padikkal

It’s still early to suggest that Padikkal would go on to become an important part of India’s future plans. But it’s hard to not be excited about what he brings to the table. He is yet to hit a first-class century and averages 34.8 in the format after 15 games. While the pros and cons of fast-tracking him is a different debate altogether, there’s no denying the raw talent Padikkal brings to the table. He made 649 runs at an average of over 40 with seven fifties in the last Ranji season.

Jaydev Unadkat

The Saurashtra all-rounder was unlucky to miss out on a place in the squad in the first place. The left-arm seamer has been in sensational form in the Ranji Trophy of late and brings loads of experience and skills with him. India would also be served by the left-arm variation he has, but it’s his reliability as a pacer that would put him in contention to be on the flight to England. With 67 wickets in 10 matches in the last Ranji season, Unadkat was the leading wicket-taker, guiding Saurashtra to a maiden Ranji title.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

It’s a stretch to suggest that Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s fit and ready to go suddenly, especially as it has been said that he isn’t ready for five-day cricket yet after his injury concerns. It was recently said that Bhuvneshwar “does not want to play Tests anymore”, but the fast bowler clarified in a tweet that he was indeed still available for the longest format of the game.

There have been articles about me not wanting to play Test cricket. Just to clarify, I have always prepared myself for all three formats irrespective of the team selection and will continue to do the same.
Suggestion – please don’t write your assumptions based on “sources”!

— Bhuvneshwar Kumar (@BhuviOfficial) May 15, 2021

However, his path back won’t be easy. The last Test match, which incidentally was also his last first-class match, was in 2018 in South Africa.

Navdeep Saini

A more realistic option at this stage is Navdeep Saini, who played in two of the four Tests in Australia but could not quite impress. He did not pick up many wickets and also leaked a few runs in the process. However, Saini’s first-class record is impressive and the tall, hit-the-deck quick gets movement off the pitch that can be handy on the greener tops in England. Saini also adds an element of extra pace and zip to the pace attack that should come in handy.

Rahul Chahar

Rahul Chahar was called up to the Test squad earlier but was not picked for the England tour, and instead was sent to Sri Lanka to play the limited-overs series. However, Chahar’s impressive first-class record – he has 64 wickets in 39 first-class matches at an average of 28.6 – and ability to attack the stumps make him a wicket-taking prospect waiting in the wings. Chahar could be added as an additional spin bowling option in the reserves group.

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