Virat Kohli has pulled out of first two tests against England due to personal reasons. The BCCI will name Kohli's replacement soon. Here, we have a look at five players who can replace Virat Kohli for first two tests against England.
Cheteshwar Pujara is still going strong in domestic cricket and knocking on Team India's door. The senior batsman kicked off the Ranji Trophy season with an unbeaten 243 against Jharkhand. He scored 49, 43, 43 and 66 in next four innings.
Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the Test team following the World Test Championship final against Australia in 2023. India needs an experience batsman in Virat Kohli's absence and Pujara will bring that experience in the squad.
Abhimanyu seems to be frontrunner to replace Virat Kohli. He was part of the Test squad for the South Africa series but got dropped for the England series. Abhimanyu is likely to earn another call-up.
He has been part of India's test squad many times in past two years but is yet to make debut. Abhimanyu might not behand a debut even if he makes his return in Kohli's place.
Rinku Singh is the scheme of things in Test cricket as well and he was part of the India A squad for the series against South Africa A. He has once again been included in the squad for the last game against England Lions.
Rinku has already proven his mettle in T20I cricket, and his success could see him earn test call-up. Rinku hasn't played a red ball for India A yet. He has scored 3099 runs in 43 first-class matches at an average of 58.47.
Rajat Patidar has proven his worth for India A in red-ball cricket and is close to test call-up. The right-handed batsman recently scored back-to-back centuries against England Lions and is strong contender to be called into the Test team.
Rajat Patidar is capped in ODI cricket. He opened the innings with Sai Sudharan in the 3rd ODI against South Africa in December. Rajat could be rewarded with a Test call-up now. He has 4000 runs in 55 first-class matches.
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Sarfaraz Khan has been close to Test call-up for almost two years now and is being consistently ignored. With Virat Kohli absent, the selectors could reward him for his performances in domestic cricket. He recently scored 96, 4 and 55 against England Lions.
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