'That's selectors' call' - Sourav Ganguly steers clear from commenting on replacement for Shubman Gill

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Thursday tried to stay clear of any sort of controversy around the decision of the national selectors not to send any replacement for the injured Shubman Gill. According to the former captain, it is a matter on which the selection committee has to solely make a call. 

The issue was stirred up after the team management had requested two openers as a replacement for Gill. The two openers who were requested were supposedly Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal, both of whom are in Sri Lanka at this moment, with the white-ball squad. It has been reported that the request was made through administrative manager Girish Dongre. 

However, despite the request, the chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma had not sent any formal reply to that mail until a few days back. It should be noted that the Indian contingent which is in England already has three openers – Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Mayank Agarwal while Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is one of the four reserves players is also an opener. 

Sourav Ganguly says the call has to be taken by selectors

On his 49th birthday, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly interacted with the media and faced a question regarding this. He said, “That’s the selectors’ call.” In addition to this, it was also reported that the BCCI was not happy with the selection calls for the India tours of England. It was reported that the team management doesn’t want to use KL Rahul as an opener while Easwaran is nowhere in the team’s plans. 

That being said, the situation leaves the Indian team without any other backup to Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal, who is now all set to take the charge of opening the batting in Gill’s absence. With the president staying away from any comments, it has to be said that there is a lot that has been lost in the communication between the board, selection committee, and the team management, which is currently in England. 

Speaking of Shaw and Padikkal, the Sri Lankan tour will end on 25th July, which makes them available only after that. India’s first Test against England will be played from August 4th in Trent Bridge. If required, Shaw and Padikkal could be flown to England.