India opener Shubman Gill will be out of action for at least two months suffering a shin stress fracture. The right-handed batsman will reportedly miss the first three Test matches against England away from home.
"Shubman has sustained a shin stress fracture, which will keep him out of action for a minimum of two months, which effectively rules him out of the first three Tests against England in August," PTI quoted a BCCI source as saying.
"It will be a race against time to get him fit for the final two Test matches in September after completing rehabilitation," he added.
According to a PTI report, Gill’s injury aggravated during the final of the inaugural World Test Championship that India lost to New Zealand. He scored 28 and 8 in the first and second innings respectively.
India have been facing injury issues for quite some time now. During the tour DownUnder, a number of players including Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out during the series after sustaining respective injuries.
Fast bowler Ishant Sharma missed the entire Australian tour with a left side strain but returned back for the Test series against England at home and also featured in the WTC final.
Batsman Shreyas Iyer had injured his shoulder while fielding in the first ODI against England in March and has been out of action since then. He also missed the first leg of the IPL 2021.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya is another Indian player who has been struggling with injuries. He sustained a back injury back in 2019 and the right-hander had undergone a successful surgery for the same back in 2019.
Pandya then picked up a niggle during the England series at home that kept him away from bowling for the Mumbai Indians during the first phase of the IPL.
Hardik though has travelled with the other Indian team to Sri Lanka where they are slated to lock horns with the Lankan lions in white-ball fixtures. The Indian team will be led by Shikhar Dhawan.
The Virat Kohli-led side is scheduled to take on England in a five-match Test series slated to begin on August 4 in Nottingham. This will also mark the start of the next cycle of the World Test Championship.