India opener Shubman Gill
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said that it's the selectors' call whether they want to send additional players to England for the upcoming five-Test series against the hosts.
Amid reports suggesting that Prithvi Shaw could replace injured Shubman Gill in the Indian squad, the selection committee has reportedly asked the team management to replace the Punjab opener with Abhimanyu Easwaran. The Indian contingent also has Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul to partner Rohit Sharma at the top.
"That is the selectors' call," Ganguly told reporters over the opening combination dilemma. The ex-India skipper, who celebrated his 49th birthday on Thursday, also talked about challenges in hosting sporting events during COVID-19 times.
"Nothing can be done with this Covid-19 situation, so it is closed doors only. Cricket is obviously started, India is in England, then we will have IPL and then there is T20 World Cup. Cricket won't stop and it will go on."
"These are exceptional circumstances. Last year World Cup got cancelled. This year if again it gets cancelled because of Covid, then it is a massive loss for the game. That is why it is being taken to a safer place," he added.
Ganguly also said that it's "difficult" to organize domestic pink-ball Tests for women cricketers ahead of their Day/Night Test against Australia.
In a first, the India women's cricket team is scheduled to lock horns with Australia Women in a pink-ball Test from September 30 at the WACA, Perth. "Domestic matches are difficult to organise in August because of rain," said Ganguly.
