The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday, May 24 announced an 18-member squad for the upcoming five-match Test series to be played in England from June 20. Shubman Gill was appointed India's new Test captain while Rishabh Pant was named as deputy.
B Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh have been picked in India's Test squad for the first time while Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur have made their comebacks. However, there was no place for Mohammed Shami and Sarfaraz Khan in the India squad for the England tour.
Let's take a look at the major takeaways from India's Test squad for England:
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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday, May 24 announced Shubman Gill as India's new captain in Test cricket. The 25-year-old Gill replaced Rohit Sharma, who retired from Test cricket earlier this month. Gill has previously captained India in the T20I format, having led the side in the five-game series in Zimbabwe in July 2024. His first assignment as the full-time Test captain will be on the upcoming tour of England, where India will play five Tests from June 20.
India's chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar spoke about Shubman Gill's appointment in the press conference. "Over the last year or so, we’ve looked at Shubman at various times. You take a lot of feedback from the dressing room as well. He’s very young but we’ve seen the improvement. I know it’s T20 cricket for GT [Gujarat Titans in IPL] as well, but you take feedback from a lot of people", said Agarkar. "We are hopeful that he’s the guy. It’s always going to be a high-pressure job, like it always is, but we are hopeful that we’ve picked the right guy. He’s a terrific player," he added.
Karun Nair has made his comeback in the India squad for Test series in England on the back of an impressive domestic season. Nair, who has a triple hundred to his name, played a Test match for India back in 2017. The 33-year-old Nair is likely to play a pivotal role in the middle-order.
"At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we're lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help," said Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the BCCI’s selection committee at the press conference in Mumbai.
Veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami wasn't picked in the India Test squad for the England tour. Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the BCCI’s selection committee revealed that Shami was not considered for selection following advice from the medical team.
"He's been trying to get fit for a series but I think he's had a setback over the last week or so. He's got some MRI done. I'd like to mention I don't think he was going to be able to play five Tests at the moment. I don't think his workload is where it needs to be, so it's just the medical guys who've told us that he's been ruled out of the series, unfortunately," said Agarkar.
"We were hoping him to be available for some part of the series at least but if he's not fit at the moment, it's very difficult to keep waiting. We'd rather plan with the guys that are fit and available at the moment," he added.
Premier India pacer Jasprit Bumrah recently marked his return to competitive cricket in the IPL 2025 after an injury setback during the Test series in Australia. India will keep an eye on Bumrah's fitness during the lengthy series in England.
"I don’t think he is available for all five Tests. Again, that is what the physios and the doctors have told us, whether it's four or three, the workload…needless to say how important he is, even if he is available for three or four Tests," said Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the BCCI’s selection committee.
"We’re just glad that he’s fit, the setback that he had in Australia wasn’t too bad," he added.
Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh has got his maiden call-up in India's Test team. Arshdeep, India's leading wicket-taker in the T20Is, is yet to play a Test for the team, but he has received the confidence of the selection committee on the back of his County Championship stints.
He will give that 'variety' to the Indian bowling attack with a left-arm quick option that will come in handy in English conditions.
"He's a quality bowler and has had a taste of County (cricket) as well. A tall guy, who can bowl with the new ball, has a body of work in red-ball cricket and in recent form in the last couple of years," said Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the BCCI’s selection committee.
India's 18-member squad selected for England featured four all-rounders with a mix of options in two spin and as many pace all-rounders.
The dexterous Shardul Thakur has been brought back into the Test squad to accompany Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was impressive in his maiden Test series against Australia. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja will have the company of Washington Sundar in the spin all-rounder column.
KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal were India’s openers for the majority of the Australia series. It remains to be seen if India will persist with the same combination in England or promote another batter. There are also alternatives for India to pick in the position in Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, or Gill himself, who has opened for India in the past. Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the BCCI’s selection committee, said that the final call on the matter would be taken by the team management. "GG (Gautam Gambhir) and Shubman (Gill) might take a call on the opener once they get there," said Agarkar.
India’s squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
First Test: June 20-24, Headingley (Leeds)
Second Test: July 2-6, Edgbaston (Birmingham)
Third Test: July 10-14, Lord’s (London)
Fourth Test, July 23-27, Old Trafford (Manchester)
Fifth Test: July 31- August 4, The Oval (London)
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