Gambhir returns home from England for family emergency

The Indian team will be without head coach Gautam Gambhir, at least for the start of the closed-door intra-squad warm-up fixture in Beckenham, starting Friday. The Statesman has learnt that Gambhir rushed back to India on Wednesday following a family emergency.

In the absence of Gambhir, assistant coaches Sitanshu Kotak and Ryan ten Doeschate, along with bowling coach Morne Morkel, will oversee the squad. Meanwhile, Hrishikesh Kanitkar is currently heading the India A side.

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The warm-up game that will run through until June 16 will allow the senior team to assess the form of players, as the team shapes up under new skipper Shubman Gill for the first Test against England, starting June 20 at Headingley.

While Gambhir’s return date to England isn’t yet known, his absence comes at a pivotal juncture as the Indian team is set to undergo a massive transition phase during the five-Test series against England, following the recent retirements of three of the team’s stalwarts — Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. As such, the team management was expected to finalise the batting order, an area Gambhir had indicated would be settled closer to the first Test.

The retirements of Rohit and Kohli have created two vacancies in the batting order, and among the fresh faces in the squad, B Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair have emerged as strong contenders to fill the spots.

Among the members of India’s Test squad who featured for India A in two unofficial Tests against England Lions, Nair, Dhruv Jurel and Abhimanyu Easwaran were among the runs. Nair top-scored in the series with 259 runs, including a double-century in the first game in Canterbury.

Jurel, meanwhile, hit three half-centuries to score 227 runs, while Easwaran struck two fifties. KL Rahul, tipped to open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the series, made scores of 116 and 51 in his only outing in Northampton.

Toss-up between Shardul and Nitish

The team management will also be weighing the choice between Shardul Thakur and Nitish Reddy for the seam-bowling allrounder’s slot. Reddy impressed with two wickets in 26.5 overs, while Thakur returned the same number of wickets but from 43 overs across the two first-class matches against the Lions.

In terms of the pace attack, two of Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are likely to partner Jasprit Bumrah in the playing XI for the opening Test.

Homage to crash victims

Just before the start of the intrasquad game in Beckenham, the players and support staff observed a minute’s silence to pay homage to the victims of the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad. All members also wore black armbands as a mark of mourning.

“A minute’s silence was also observed today to pay homage to the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash, as a mark of respect for the lives lost and solidarity with the affected families,” said the BCCI on its ‘X’ account.

On Thursday, more than 240 people were feared dead when an Air India plane bound towards the Gatwick Airport in London crashed moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane crashed into the hostel of BJ Medical College located just outside the airport, with just one miraculous survivor found.