The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has announced the India squad for England tests 2025 on Saturday (May 24, 2025). On expected lines, Shubman Gill is the new test captain of India, with Rishabh Pant becoming the vice-captain. Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur are back in the India squad for England tests, and Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh got a maiden call-up after their good performances in white-ball cricket. Today, we will see what Ajit Agarkar, the head of Indian Men’s team selection committee, has said and what is India squad for England tests 2025. So let’s start.
BCCI Announced India Squad for England Tests 2025, Shubman Becomes The New Test Captain of India
The BCCI has announced the India squad for England tests 2025 on Saturday. After Rohit Sharma’s test retirement, Shubman Gill becomes the new test captain of India. Rishabh Pant has been named his deputy. There were a lot of speculations on India’s new test captain, and the contenders were Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant. Eventually, Shubman has been given the opportunity to lead the Indian test side in the England tests 2025. He becomes the fifth youngest captain in tests for India.
Ajit Agarkar said Bumrah was not considered for the captaincy role due to his workload management. He is not expected to play all five tests on India’s tour of England 2025. Bumrah has captained Team India in three tests as of May 2025.
Arshdeep and Sai Got the Maiden Call-up
After their outstanding performances in white-ball cricket and in domestic cricket, Arshdeep Singh and Sai Sudharsan have been called up in the India squad for England tests, for the first time. Arshdeep is the only left-arm pacer in the squad and will bring variety in the bowling attack. Sai, who has done well in domestic cricket and the IPL (Indian Premier League) for Gujarat Titans (GT), has been considered in the top order of the Indian test batting line-up.
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Shardul and Karun recalled to the Test Squad
Shardul Thakur has done well in SENA countries for Team India, winning them games with both bat and ball. Karun Nair, who played his last test in 2017, has done well in domestic cricket and in the IPL. The BCCI has added Nair and Shardul to the test squad for the England tests.
No, Shami, Sarfaraz in the Test Squad
Mohammad Shami and Sarfaraz Khan could not find a place in the India squad for England tests 2025.”The medical team advised the selectors that Shami is not fit for Test cricket at the moment,” said Agarkar. He is not ready to bowl long spells, if needed, in test cricket.
As far as Sarfaraz is concerned, the selectors seem not to have faith in his way of playing, especially in swinging and seam-friendly conditions. Sarfaraz did not play a single game on the Australia tour.
Other than Shami and Sarfaraz, Devdutt Padikkal and Harshit Rana could not find a place in the squad. Both players were a part of India’s tour of Australia 2024-25.
Three Spinners and Six Pacers in the Squad
Team India has picked three spinners: Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav in the squad. They are going with six pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Arshdeep Singh.
Akash Deep, Bumrah, Siraj, and Krishna have been the obvious choices as they also played the tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.
Some Obvious Choices
There are some obvious choices in the squad that are Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Dhruv Jurel. Yashasvi is the most consistent batter for India in tests in the last one and a half years. Reddy has done well in Australia and would fight for a place along with Shardul Thakur as an all-rounder. Dhruv Jurel has done well in whatever chances he got in India in tests. He will be the reserve wicketkeeper, with Pant being the first choice.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket, is a reserve opener. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal might be the first-choice openers. Easwaran has been a part of the Indian test setup for a while now, but could not find a place in the playing XI yet.
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India Squad for England Tests 2025:-
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.
A Tough Time Ahead for Team India, Will We See the Bazball in this Series?
Team India has a tough task ahead in England. Over the years, we have seen the Indian batters struggle in swinging and seam-friendly conditions. England might be tempted to give more seam and swing-friendly conditions, looking at India’s batting lineup (especially after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s test retirements). The only problem for England in giving more bowler-friendly conditions is it might hamper their aggressive approach. For Bazball, they need at least the conditions that favor their approach. Not the flat tracks, but there will be conditions on offer for England pacers, but it will be interesting to see how England can balance the pitches across the five tests.
So this is the India squad for England tests 2025. The series will commence from June 20, 2025, at Headingly, Leeds. Last time, India went on to draw the series 2-2 in England. What do you think? Will India’s new look test team do wonders in England? Or will England come out too good for India in their home conditions? Comment on your predictions below. Thank you for reading. Keep following us for the latest updates.
