ENG vs IND: Mayank Agarwal to be part of Indian squad for Edgbaston Test

• Mayank has got a call for the final Test against England.
• He has not been very good with the bat recently.
• England and India will play Edgbaston Test starting from July 1.

Right-hand Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal will play in the July 1 Edgbaston Test against England. He will depart for England on Monday and rejoin the Indian squad tonight. According to new government regulations, Agarwal won’t need to undergo quarantine and can play right away.

Agarwal, 31, was not included in the May team for the Edgbaston Test, but an injury to KL Rahul and concerns over Rohit Sharma’s availability due to Covid-19 opened the door for him.

Read more: Rohit Sharma affected with Covid-19 ahead of deciding Test against England

During the home series against Sri Lanka in March, Agarwal scored 59 runs at an average of 19 in two matches.

Since then, he has played for Punjab Kings in the IPL and Karnataka in a quarterfinal loss to Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy.

The Kings’ captain, Agarwal, had a disappointing IPL season, scoring 196 runs at 16.33 and a strike rate of 122.5. Ravi Shastri felt that Agarwal’s inability to handle captaincy may have cost him a Test spot due to his poor batting.

“I love the kid. I know how he plays his cricket, how determined he is. But it’s putting a guy who is very good at what he does in a wrong place,” Shastri had said. “And it can have problems. Serious problems. Serious repercussions. It could have cost him his place in the Indian side. Test side, everything, because the selectors will judge on current form, they will judge on what they actually see.”

Read more: Eng vs Ind: Joe Root punishes India with a double century in his 100th test

The upcoming one-off Test in Birmingham will end the series that was disrupted by an epidemic of Covid-19 in the India team last year.