India Test Squad Announcement For England Tour Highlights: Pant enters captaincy race after Gill tipped as favourite

MSK Prasad’s squad: 1. Jaiswal 2. Rahul 3. Sudharsan 4. Gill (vc) 5. Pant 6. Jadeja 7. Reddy 8. Kuldeep 9. Bumrah (captain) 10. Siraj 11. Shami 12. Prasidh 13. Jurel (wk) 14. Washy 15. Arshdeep 16. Easwaran.

Devang Gandhi squad: 1. Yashasvi 2. Rahul 3. Sudharsan 4. Gill 5. Pant (wk and VC) 6. Jadeja 7. Reddy 8. Kuldeep 9 Bumrah (captain) 10 Siraj 11 Shami 12. Prasidh Krishna 13. Harshit 14. Arshdeep 15. Jurel wk 16. Iyer

Jatin Paranjpe squad: 1. Jaiswal 2. Rahul 3. Gill 4. Sudharsan 5. Shreyas 6. Sarfaraz 7. Pant (wk, vc) 7. Shardul 8. Jadeja 9. Kuldeep 10. Bumrah (captain) 11. Prasidh 12. Shami 13. Siraj 14. Reddy 15. Arshdeep 16. Jurel (wk)

Gagan Khoda squad: 1. Yashasvi 2. Rahul (Captain) 3. Sudharsan 4. Gill (vc) 5. Pant 6. Jadeja 7. Reddy 8. Kuldeep 9. Bumrah (captain) 10. Siraj 11. Shami 12. Prasidh 13. Jurel (wk) 14. Shardul 15. Arshdeep 16. Karun

Senior batter KL Rahul has a 2-1 win-loss record when it comes to Test captaincy. He had led in whites for the first time in Virat Kohli’s absence during the second Test in the 2021-22 tour of South Africa in Johannesburg, which India lost by 7 wickets.

The wicketkeeper-batter later led India to a 2-0 sweep in Bangladesh in December 2022.

Bumrah has a 1-2 win/loss record when it comes to leading India in the Test format. He had first captained India against England in Birmingham in the summer of 2022, in which the visitors suffered a seven-wicket defeat.

The senior pacer then led the Indians in the first and fifth Tests in the recent tour of Australia, collecting a 295-run victory in Perth followed by a six-wicket defeat in Sydney.

The hunt for India’s next Test captain was believed to be a two-horse race between Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah. However, with Bumrah’s recent back injury and concerns over his workload management, it is highly unlikely the Indian team management and selectors unveil him as Rohit Sharma’s successor.

Instead, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has joined the race as a candidate, with the selectors holding informal talks with him as well as Gill recently, according to Sky Sports. What could boost Pant’s case is the fact that there are concerns over Gill’s Test credentials, with some viewing him as someone who hasn’t earned the right to be described as a Test regular yet.

Jaiswal is a first-choice opener in the Test format, having cemented his spot in the senior team ever since he got his international career off to a rollicking start with a century on debut during the 2023 tour of West Indies.

Jaiswal, however, is yet to tour England and the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee might have thought it to be a good idea for him to get used to English conditions and the Dukes ball before the rest of the senior squad.

The fact that Rajasthan Royals’ season have not qualified for the IPL playoffs this year further frees up his schedule, allowing him to participate in the two four-day games against England Lions that get underway on 30 May and 6 June respectively which will be followed by an intra-squad match between India and India A.

According Sky Sports, Rohit Sharma was looking forward to traveling to England with the Test squad and retiring from the format midway during the tour, much like MS Dhoni during the 2014-15 tour of Australia.

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee, however, turned down the idea, which resulted in the ‘Hitman’ announcing his retirement from the format earlier this month.

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir had recently hosted top-order batter Shubman Gill at his Delhi residence recently for a lunch meeting, which reportedly lasted five hours.

Is that a sign Gambhir has already made up his mind as far Rohit Sharma’s successor as captain in the format is concerned?

Mohammed Shami is far from done with the Test format even if he has not played in whites since the 2023 World Test Championship Final against Australia at The Oval. And the senior pacer wasn’t pleased when he came across a report carried by an Indian news website that suggested he could join Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in announcing his retirement form the Test format.

“Very well done maharaj apna job k din bhi gin loo kitna adieu hai badme dekh le hamara ap jaise ne satyiyanash kar diya future ka kabi to accha bol liya kare aaj ka sabse kharab story sorry (sic) (Very well done, King. Look at your job, too, first and see how many days are left before focusing on me. Guys like you have destroyed my future. At least try to speak good things, sometimes. This is today’s worst story, I am sorry.),” Shami wrote in a ‘Story’ on Instagram that also carried a screenshot of said article.

‘Jumbo’ backs Karun Nair, who had made his final Test appearance in March 2017 – just three months after becoming only the second Indian to score a triple-century in Test cricket. The fact that he has played for Northamptonshire in the County Championship also boosts his chances of getting included in the squad for the upcoming tour.

“Karun deserves to come back into the Indian team with the kind of domestic run he has had. So perhaps he could be the No.4 for India because I feel, you need a bit of experience. You ned someone in England who has been there and done that. He has played County cricket, so he knows the conditions. Karun may be on the other side of 30, but he is still young,” Kumble told ESPNCricinfo.

Ravi Shastri, an individual Virat Kohli formed an incredibly successful captain-coach partnership with from 2017 to 2021, also feels Kohli had another couple of years of Test cricket left in him.

“I am sure Virat still had two years of Test cricket left in him. I would have loved to see him in England this summer. It would have been a good idea to hand him the captaincy for the tour, but he would know best why he decided to leave. Maybe mental fatigue drove him to decide because he was as fit as any other player on the team,” former cricketer and pundit Shastri wrote in his column for Sportstar.

There are several options for the Indian team management in their hunt for Kohli’s successor at the No 4 spot. Shubman Gill, who is a front-runner for captaincy, had started his Test career at the top and later moved to No 3 to accommodate Yashasvi Jaiswal, could make another change to his batting position.

There’s KL Rahul as well, who has batted at the top as well as in the middle order although his positive run as opener alongside Jaiswal in Australia makes him an ideal candidate to fill the spot vacated by Rohit.

Domestic giant Sarfaraz Khan could finally be persisted with on a long-term basis after making appearances in the home assignments against England and New Zealand last year.

Kohli’s retirement could also open the door for Shreyas Iyer to return to the Test side after more than a month. And given he’s a middle-order specialist and bats at No 4 in ODIs, who’s to say he can’t bat at that spot in Tests either.

Jasprit Bumrah had become a hot favourite to succeed Rohit as Test skipper after leading India to a thumping 295-run victory over Australia in the opening match of the five-Test series Down Under in November. His back injury in the final Test of the tour in Sydney, however, has cast a shadow on his chances of being named full-time leader, given how managing his workload and fitness will be the top priority for the Indian team going forward.

Top-order batter Shubman Gill thus has emerged the front-runner to take over the role on a full-time basis starting next month. Gill has shown the potential to be an excellent leader with Gujarat Titans in the IPL, and it remains to be seen if he can carry those skills over to the red-ball format as well.

Other contenders for the role include Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, though the former currently appears a favourite to be named Gill’s deputy in the Test side.

The India A squad, announced on Friday, should be flying out later this week with the first four-day game against England Lions set to get underway on 30 May in Canterbury.

The first batch of players will be expected to board the flight for England once the league phase of the ongoing IPL comes to an end and this should include those whose teams have already been knocked out.

The ones whose teams are in the playoffs will leave later, with those participating in the IPL final on 3 June likely to leave a couple of days later.

With the five-match Test series against England set to get underway exactly a month from now, the selectors will have to unveil the squad sooner rather than later. India after all, are traveling to England and will have to get visa and other logistical work done on time. There’s also the question of the Indian players getting enough time to acclimatise to English conditions before the series gets underway.

Expect the squad to be announced no later than this week, possibly on Tuesday itself.

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee had announced the India A squad for the tour of England on Friday, naming Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran the captain and also including first-choice opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who will be touring England for the first time since making his international debut two years ago.

India A squad for the tour of England: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (VC) (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey.

Bond, who had worked closely with Bumrah during his stint as Mumbai Indians bowling coach, has warned the Indian team management against playing the senior pacer for more than two Tests in a row in England following his back injury, which he had sustained during the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney in January.

“He’s too valuable for the next World Cup and stuff. So you’d be looking at five Tests in England, I wouldn’t want to be playing him in any more than two in a row. Coming out of the back end of the IPL into a Test match is going to be a huge risk. And so how do they manage that is going to be key,” Bond had told ESPNCricinfo recently. ( **READ MORE** )

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is a name that stands out among those who have been named in the India A squad for the upcoming tour of England. Jaiswal, after all, has sealed the opener’s spot for himself since getting his Test career off to a remarkable start during the tour of West Indies in 2023.

The Mumbai batter, however, will be making his maiden trip to England and the selectors and team management perhaps wanted the southpaw to get acclimatised to English conditions before the five-Test series.

Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan too have been named in the Abhimanyu Easwaran squad, both having last played Test cricket in 2023. Vice-captain Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana and Sarfaraz Khan are the other players who have represented India at the Test level but are yet to cement their place in the side.

With Jasprit Bumrah unlikely to play all five Tests in England due to his recent back injury as well as the attention on his workload management, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh might end up receiving his maiden Test cap in the upcoming series in England.

Arshdeep is an integral part of the T20I attack and has also been impressive in ODIs lately, but is yet to fulfill his dream of playing Test cricket for India.

“I would say Shubman’s looked very good. Give him the opportunity. He’s 25, 26 years of age, even give him time. There’s Rishabh as well. I think these two are the obvious ones I’m looking at because of their age and they have a decade ahead of them.

“So, let them learn. They’ve got experience as captains, now, captaining their (IPL) franchise and that makes a difference,” cricketer-turned-commentator Shastri said on the ICC Review recently.