Shubman Gill was officially named India’s new Test captain on Saturday for the upcoming five-match series against England, beginning June 20. The 25-year-old batter takes over the reins from Rohit Sharma, who recently announced his retirement from the format — a decision soon followed by batting great Virat Kohli.
“We discussed every option that’s there, over the last year or so, and we have looked at Shubman various times,” said chief selector Ajit Agarkar. “We have taken a lot of feedback from the dressing room. We are hopeful he is the guy — he is a terrific player and our best wishes to him.”
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!This will be Gill’s first time leading India in Tests. His previous leadership experience includes captaining the T20 side during the 2024 tour of Zimbabwe when senior players were rested.
Among the major talking points in the squad was the return of Karun Nair, who makes a comeback to the national setup after nearly eight years. Nair, who last featured in a Test in 2017, was dropped soon after becoming only the second Indian to score a triple century in the format.
Young left-handed batter B Sai Sudharsan and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh have received their maiden Test call-ups, a reward for impressive performances in domestic cricket.
One of the notable omissions was Sarfaraz Khan.
On Sarfaraz’s exclusion, Agarkar said: “Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test and then didn't get runs. Sometimes it's decisions the team management takes.”
“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."
Karun, backed by Agarkar for his experience and domestic form, returns to the Test fold after a strong 2024–25 season. His inclusion is seen as a move to add stability to the middle order in the absence of senior pros.
India's Squad for Test tour of England:Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, K.L. 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, and Kuldeep Yadav.
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