Cricket: Shubman Gill to captain, Shami Out? India players who could make the cut for England tour
Shubman Gill to be unveiled as new red-ball captain?
This month marked a turning point in Test cricket for India, as we saw two of the nation's greatest players, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, call time on their careers in the longest format of the game.
Sharma’s departure has left the Indian selection committee with a massive task in selecting a skipper to take them through the next World Test Championship cycle. India missed out on the WTC final this year, with South Africa and Australia set to do battle between June 11 and 15 at Lord's, which we will be covering in our upcoming cricket predictions.
As it stands, Shubman Gill is widely considered the frontrunner to be handed the role of Test captain for the foreseeable future, while Rishabh Pant is expected to serve as his deputy. The BCCI will confirm their decision during their squad announcement for the England tour on May 24.
Speaking of selection, let’s explore who is likely to feature in England next month…
With Sharma and Kohli now gone, the Indian top-order will need experience to handle English conditions, which will likely pave the way for KL Rahul to retain his spot in the opening partnership alongside promising youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Sai Sudhasan is currently having an incredible IPL campaign and deserves a spot in the top half, while the middle order will likely feature Pant and stalwart Ravindra Jadeja, as well as Axar Patel, who is expected to be the team’s specialist spinner with Ravichandran Ashwin now retired.
Jasprit Bumrah will lead the bowling attack for the Men in Blue, but his recent injury issues and enforced workload management will necessitate the selectors bringing in cover, which could leave the door open for Prasidh Krishna, who currently holds the Purple Cap in the 2025 IPL.
Who could miss out on selection?
The big question for the upcoming Test series is if Mohammed Shami will be risked. The 34-year-old has played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL this season, but has not played a Test match since the 2023 WTC final against Australia, and there are concerns over whether he will be able to see out five-day matches in a five-match series.
Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran were unused squad players at the Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year, but neither has done much since then and may suffer the axe, potentially for Karun Nair and/or Rajat Patidar.
Another player on the fringes is Devdutt Padikkal, who is having an excellent season with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but he is likely to be direct competition for Sudharsan, and it just feels unlikely that the latter will be omitted given his recent form.
Harshit Rana has been a regular feature in the red-ball format in recent times and will almost certainly make the cut again, which means that the likes of Washington Sundar and Shreyas Iyer could be the ones forced to make way.
