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Anshul Kamboj 'close to making' debut as Shubman Gill confirms Akash Deep's status for Manchester Test
Anshul Kamboj is ‘close to making’ his debut in the Manchester Test against England as Shubman Gill confirms Akash Deep's status.
Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj is “very close” to making his debut in the Manchester game against England, and the Indian team management will take a final call between him and Prasidh Krishna on the day of the Test match. India captain Shubman Gill on Tuesday confirmed that Akash Deep has been ruled out of the upcoming fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy due to an injury.
Arshdeep Singh has already been ruled out of the Manchester Test after he got injured during a training session ahead of the upcoming game. The left-arm pacer sustained an impact injury to his left thumb while bowling in the nets at a training session in Beckenham. The BCCI Medical Team are currently monitoring his progress.
Nitish Kumar Reddy has also been ruled out of the remainder of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy owing to a left knee injury.
“It's never easy when there are a few injuries in the squad. Nitish Kumar Reddy is going to miss out on the series. Akash Deep is unavailable for the next match, so is Arshdeep, but we have enough good players in the team to pick up twenty wickets. That has been the most challenging aspect of the series. It is not ideal to have different bowlers, but I was prepared,” Gill told reporters on the eve of the Test.
"We have seen Anshul enough. The kind of skillset he brings to the table is exactly what we want. We believe he can win us the match. We have the belief in our squad. We believe anyone who comes in the playing XI can win us the match. Anshul Kamboj is very close to making his debut. We will see between Prasidh and Anshul tomorrow,” he added.
Shubman Gill also confirmed that Rishabh Pant will don the wicketkeeping gloves for India. The India vice-captain received a blow to his hand during the Lord's Test while trying to collect a Jasprit Bumrah delivery.
Pant then didn't wear the gloves for the rest of the Test as Dhruv Jurel came in as a substitute. Pant, however, batted and even scored 74 runs in the first innings. However, Jofra Archer troubled him in the second innings as he kept bowling yorkers, forcing the 27-year-old to jam his bat down.
“Pant will keep wickets,” said Gill.
England lead Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy
England currently lead the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The hosts went 2-1 up after winning the Lord's Test against India by 22 runs. Karun Nair is also a big talking point after he failed to set the stage on fire in the first three Tests.
However, Shubman Gill backed the senior batter, who returned to the Test playing XI after eight years. Looking at the words spoken by the Indian captain, it seems likely that Karun will retain his place in the lineup.
“He didn’t bat at his number in the first game, and we have had conversations with him, and we are hopeful that he will turn it around. It is difficult when a player is making a comeback in such a series. I don't think there's any issue with his batting,” said Gill.
It must be mentioned that Karun Nair batted at No.6 in the Headingley Test while Sai Sudharsan batted at No.3. The latter was then dropped for the next two matches in Edgbaston and Lord's, resulting in Karun moving up the batting order.
Karun Nair has so far recorded scores of 0, 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14, aggregating 131 runs in six innings.
