ICC CWC'19: Rishabh Pant replaces Vijay Shankar against England

Mumbai: Rishabh Pant has been included in the starting squad in place of Vijay Shankar in India's encounter against England in ICC World Cup 2019.

Pant's omission from the original squad became a topic of heated debates given his stupendous form in the past year.

The 21-year-old is one of the most exciting players to have emerged in Indian cricket. He impressed with Test hundreds during the tours of England and Australia earlier and was in fine form during the IPL last month.

Vijay Shankar has failed to perform at the number four spot for the second consecutive time in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019. Against West Indies, the all-round failed to impress with the bat as he got out off Kemar Roach's delivery after scoring 14 runs.

In the match against Afghanistan, Shankar was dismissed on 29 while batting at number four. Prior to that, he was managed to amass 15 runs against Pakistan while batting at number six.

Shankar has received flak from both fans and critics due to his inability to play huge knocks in the mega-event. The 28-year-old medium-pacer wasn't either used for bowling by captain Virat Kohli in India's last two matches.

Squads:

India (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Rishabh Pant, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood