India squad for England Tests: Announcement next week; Rohit shortlisted, Iyer to miss out: Report

Rohit Sharma’s fate as the Indian Test team’s captain will be clear by the second week of May, a report has declared. The Ajit Agarkar-led men’s selection committee will be announcing the squad for the Indian Test team in the second week of May for the upcoming five-match Test series in England.

The five-match Test series in England starts on 20 June and will kick off India’s campaign in a new 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. India lost their last Test series 31 in Australia and missed out on the WTC 2025 final. They had also lost 3-0 at home to New Zealand before leaving for Australia.

Rohit set to captain India in England Tests

A report in the Times of India states that Rohit Sharma will continue to be India’s captain on the England tour despite the batter struggling for form in Test cricket. He scored just 155 runs in 13 innings between September 2024 and January 2025 and managed only 31 runs in five innings in Australia . But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is keen on having him as captain.

“Rohit is most likely to travel as the board feels that one needs a strong captain through the series, which is likely to be as tough as the Australia tour,” a BCCI source told TOI.

The source also revealed that the BCCI has narrowed down a 35-member list for India ‘A’ and Test teams. Rohit is part of both teams.

Karun Nair or Rajat Patidar to get a call?

Also, Karun Nair is back in contention after doing well in domestic cricket. Nair hit 863 runs at 53.94 in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season as Vidarbha won the title. However, Nair faces competition from the current Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar.

Patidar played three Tests for India in 2024 and was dropped after scoring just 63 runs.

“With regard to the middle-order, the team management has shown very little confidence in Sarfaraz Khan’s ability. Nair and Patidar are seasoned red-ball players and are in fine form. It is likely at least one of them will be in the India ‘A’ team,” the source said.

Sai Sudharsan could also get picked as the third opener while Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel may miss out. “As for Iyer, he was dropped last year based on his poor returns in Test cricket. A final call is yet to be taken,” the BCCI source added.

Kuldeep Yadav is set to return for now-retired Ravichandran Ashwin.