The Indian team for the upcoming England tour has been announced. Shubman Gill has been appointed as the new Test captain, making him India’s 37th Test skipper. Rishabh Pant has been named the vice-captain. Notably, Karun Nair makes a comeback to the Indian side after eight years, while Shardul Thakur also returns to the squad. India A captain Abhimanyu Easwaran has been given an opportunity, along with two fresh faces in the Test setup: Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh.
The squad includes six specialist batters, two wicketkeeper-batters, two spin-bowling all-rounders, two pace-bowling all-rounders, five frontline pacers, and one specialist spinner.
India’s England Tour Schedule:
India will play a five-match Test series in England as part of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle.
- 1st Test: June 20 at Leeds
- 2nd Test: July 2 at Birmingham
- 3rd Test: July 10 at Lord’s
- 4th Test: July 23 at Manchester
- 5th Test: July 31 at The Oval, London
Why Jasprit Bumrah Was Not Named Captain
After Rohit Sharma’s retirement, there was speculation about Shubman Gill becoming captain, although many former cricketers had backed Jasprit Bumrah. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained that Bumrah had earlier served as vice-captain and even led the team during the Australia tour.
However, the selectors felt that captaincy added extra pressure on him, and they preferred to keep him focused on his bowling. “We want him fit and contributing as a player. Managing 15-16 players as captain can be stressful, and we don’t want that burden on him,” Agarkar stated.
Regarding KL Rahul not being chosen, Agarkar said Rahul had led the side in the past but wasn’t in consideration this time. The selectors were looking for someone who could lead the Test side for a longer period going forward.
Three Players Dropped from the Squad
Three players from the Australia tour – Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, and Harshit Rana – have been dropped. Padikkal is currently injured and missed the IPL as well. RCB replaced him with Mayank Agarwal. Sarfaraz and Harshit have been included in the India A squad for the England tour but couldn’t secure a spot in the main team.
The five players who made it in their place are Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who were part of the Australia tour, have now retired from Test cricket, opening up space for new faces in the squad.
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India Squad for England Test Series:
- Shubman Gill (Captain)
- Rishabh Pant (Vice-Captain/Wicketkeeper)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- KL Rahul
- Sai Sudharsan
- Abhimanyu Easwaran
- Karun Nair
- Nitish Reddy
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Dhruv Jurel (Wicketkeeper)
- Washington Sundar
- Shardul Thakur
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mohammed Siraj
- Prasidh Krishna
- Akash Deep
- Arshdeep Singh
- Kuldeep Yadav
