NEW DELHI: The Indian Test team has officially entered its long-anticipated transitional phase, with Shubman Gill named captain for the upcoming five-match tour of England. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been appointed as his deputy.The squad also includes Karun Nair, who returns to the national setup after eight years. Nair, who last played in 2017, was dropped shortly after becoming only the second Indian batter to score a triple century in Test cricket.One of the notable omissions from the squad is experienced pacer Mohammed Shami, who was deemed unfit to feature in the long series.Young left-handed batter B Sai Sudharsan and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh have been rewarded with their maiden Test call-ups following strong domestic performances.
Among the prominent absentees, Shreyas Iyer’s name stood out. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar addressed Iyer’s exclusion by stating:“Shreyas had a good one-day series, played well in domestic as well but right now there’s no room in Test cricket.”At 25, Shubman Gill becomes India’s fourth-youngest Test captain, behind Sachin Tendulkar (23), Kapil Dev (24), and Ravi Shastri (25).The five-match Test series against England is set to begin on June 20 in Leeds.India’s squad for the Test tour of England:Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav.
