Shubman Gill Named India’s Test Captain for England Tour; BCCI Announces 18-Member Squad

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced an 18-member Indian Test squad for the upcoming five-match series against England. As widely anticipated, young batter Shubman Gill has been appointed as the captain for this tour. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been named as the vice-captain. The series is scheduled to take place from June 20 to August 4.

This series marks India’s first bilateral Test assignment following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In their absence, a new era of leadership and team dynamics is expected to unfold under the guidance of the new captain.

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir acknowledged the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as a major loss for the team. However, he highlighted the opportunity it presents for younger players. “When to start or end a career is entirely the player's personal choice. Neither a coach nor a selector has the right to ask a player to retire,” said Gautam Gambhir. “It is indeed a big void with experienced players like Virat and Rohit not being part of the Test squad. But this is a golden opportunity for the younger generation,” he added.

The Indian squad for the England tour includes:

Shubman Gill (Captain), Rishabh Pant (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, K.L. 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, Kuldeep Yadav.