'Nothing has been informed to us,' Dhawan reacts to Suryakumar, Shaw's possible travel to UK

India captain Shikhar Dhawan said on Saturday that he has not been informed as yet about Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal and Suryakumar Yadav's possible travel to the UK.

Indian Test team in the UK have recently suffered multiple injury cases. After Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar was earlier ruled out of the upcoming Test series against England. While reserve bowler Avesh Khan also sustained an injury while playing the three-day practice match against County Select XI in Durham. However, Avesh has not been sidelined as yet.

On Saturday, several media outlets reported that Suryakumar Yadav, who is currently with the Indian team in Sri Lanka for the limited-overs series, has received his maiden Test call-up. It is understood that along with Suryakumar, Shaw and Padikkal have also been called to the UK as back-up options ahead of the five-match Test series between India and England, which is due to begin on August 4 in Nottingham.

Ahead of the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series between India and Sri Lanka, Dhawan was asked about Suryakumar, Paddikal and Shaw's situation during a virtual press conference on Saturday. Dhawan clarified that they have not heard anything yet. "Nothing has been informed to us yet. We will get to know once there is any update from the BCCI management. So in that case, there is no need to change our strategy for the series," Dhawan was quoted, as saying in the press conference ahead of the first T20I, which is due to be played on Sunday in Colombo.

With the main squad in the UK for the Test series, India have sent a team with the majority of young players. Dhawan-led India comfortably won the ODI series 2-1 and are once again favourites to seal the T20I series as well.

Speaking about the young guns, Dhawan said they are ready for the big challenges. "It is very important. Any international match is crucial and when you perform, it makes a huge impact. I want to perform well here and strengthen my place in the team for the World Cup, let's see how it goes," the Indian captain added further.

Dhawan also congratulated India's weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who clinched a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. "It is a huge achievement to win a silver medal in the Olympics and as an Indian sports person, I am very happy that she has won the medal. As a team, we would like to congratulate her for making the country proud," Dhawan said.