Agarwal last played a Test in March, during the home series against Sri Lanka, but could manage just 59 runs from two matches, at an average of 19.66. His most recent red-ball outing was in June, for Karnataka during the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals against Uttar Pradesh.

"I love the kid. I know how he plays his cricket, how determined he is. But it's putting a guy who is very good at what he does in a wrong place," Shastri had said. "And it can have problems. Serious problems. Serious repercussions. It could have cost him his place in the Indian side. Test side, everything, because the selectors will judge on current form, they will judge on what they actually see."

The Test in Birmingham is the conclusion of the series from last year which was suspended after a Covid-19 outbreak in the India team. Agarwal, incidentally, was part of that squad and was a shoo-in as first-choice opener before a concussion days before the series opener handed an opportunity to Rahul, who was India's second-highest run-getter with 315 runs in eight innings.