The Ajit Agarkar-led India men’s selection committee has announced an 18-man squad for the next month’s five-match Test series in England starting June 20. Shubman Gill has been named as the next India Test captain, taking over the reins from the retired Rohit Sharma.
“He is very young, we have seen improvement…It’s a high-pressure job, but we are hopeful,” Agarkar said on Gill’s appointment.
Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been appointed as Gill’s deputy ahead of the likes of KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah.
Top-order batter Sai Sudharsan has been given a maiden call-up.
Middle-order batter Karun Nair has been recalled following his prolific display in domestic cricket. On the other hand, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami has been ignored with Agarkar explaining the bowler is yet to build up his workload fit for the rigours of Test cricket.
Besides Shami, Harshit Rana and Sarfaraz Khan have also not been named in the squad with the duo part of an India A squad that will be in England for two first-class matches and an intra-squad match ahead of the five Tests.Fast-bowling allrounder Shardul Thakur is back in the Test setup too.
Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead the pace attack alongside Mohammed Siraj and will have Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh for company.
Agarkar confirmed that Bumrah will not be available for all five matches of the England tour.
The spin department will be manned by Kuldeep Yadav along with allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.
India’s England tour begins from June 20 in Headingly, and it will also kickstart the team’s ICC World Test Championship cycle.
India Test Squad For England Tour: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
