'Hopeful he's the guy': India selector Agarkar explains Gill becoming Test captain, Bumrah missing out and Shami's absence

A new era has begun in the Indian cricket team with Shubman Gill officially named as the captain of the Test side on Saturday (24 May). Gill replaces now-retired Rohit Sharma as the captain and was picked ahead of Jasprit Bumrah, as the bowler faces workload issues.

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Rishabh Pant has been named his vice-captain, while the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors did not include veteran pacer Mohammed Shami in the Test squad due to fitness issues. Maiden call-ups have been extended to Arshdeep Singh and Sai Sudharsan.

Agarkar explains Gill becoming India’s Test captain

Gill’s elevation to Test captaincy when he only averages 35 in 32 Tests has surprised a few experts and fans, but BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that they had been looking at him as a possible option for over a year now and are confident that he is the right person for the job. Gill is already the vice-captain in ODIs.

“We discussed every option that’s there, over the last year or so, we’ve looked at Shubman at various times. Taken a lot of feedback from the dressing room. Very young, but there’s been improvement. We’re hopeful he’s the guy. He’s a terrific player, our best wishes to him,” Agarkar said at the press conference where the Test squad was announced.

“You don’t pick captains for one tour or two tours. We’ve seen some progress over the last year or two with him. No doubt it’s going to be as tough as it gets.”

Why Bumrah wasn’t made Test captain?

Agarkar also mentioned that Bumrah would not be available for all five Tests in England, which rules him out of the captaincy race. “Don’t think he’ll be available for all five Tests,” he said. “Whether it’s four or three, we’ll see based on how the series goes and his workload is. Even if he’s fit for 3-4 Tests, he’ll be an asset for us. Just happy he’s part of the squad.”

On Shami’s exclusion, Agarkar revealed that the pacer is not 100% fit. “He’s had a little bit of a setback over the past week, got some MRIs done. Wasn’t going to be able to play five Tests. Don’t think his workload is where he needs to be. Medical guys told he’ll be ruled out. We were hoping he’ll play some part, but if he’s not fit, we’d rather pick guys fit and available rather than waiting.”

Making a return to the Test team after a gap of eight years is Karun Nair. He is expected to play at No.4 slot after the retirement of Virat Kohli. Agarkar said Nair has been rewarded for his solid domestic form, while Sarfaraz Khan was omitted as his returns dropped in international cricket.

“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.”

India’s Test squad for England tour: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav