Shubman Gill injured: These 3 batsmen could replace him as opener during England Test series

London, July 1: India's Test series against England is still a month away but Virat Kohli and his bunch received the bad news as opener Shubman Gill could miss a good part of the tour because of a leg injury.

Gill could have partnered Rohit Sharma at the top during the series, at least in the beginning of the five-match series, but that plan now might have to be redrawn.

In a way, the early injury is a blessing too as India have enough time in their hands to find a replacement for Gill from within their squad. The new opener will also get a chance to play the intra-squad matches ahead of the Test series.

MyKhel takes a look at India's options to replace injured Gill.

1. KL Rahul

India has the option of pairing Rohit with Rahul. The Karnataka man seemed to have regained his fitness and he has the experience of batting in England as well during the 2018 tour. He had made a blistering hundred in the fifth Test at the Oval then. However, he has not played a Test match recently as his last appearance in whites came against West Indies in August 2019. Rahul has so far played 36 Tests and made 2006 runs with 5 centuries and 11 fifties at 34.59.

2. Mayank Agarwal

Mayank Agarwal has played 14 Tests as opener till now and made 1052 runs at an impressive average of 45.74 with 3 hundreds and 4 half-centuries. However, the Karnataka man, who replaced Prithvi Shaw, was dropped from the squad after the away series against Australia after some modest outings. Mayank did not make to the squad for the home series against England but was included in the jumbo squad to tour Old Blighty. Now, he might just get a look-in as he has played a Test match most recently among the contenders.

3. Abhimanyu Easwaran

Abhimanyu is a 25-year-old opener from Bengal. He is yet to make India debut in any format but has played 64 First-Class matches making 4401 runs at 43.57 with 13 hundreds and 18 fifties. He is known to be a compact opener with a tight technique but can he overtake his senior colleagues Rahul or Mayank to the opener's slot? It looks unlikely. But Kohli and Ravi Shastri have shown the penchant to throw in surprises in the past. Will they do it again with Abhimanyu? We will have to wait and see.