India: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are set to embark on a new journey in the next Test format. Shubman Gill has been named as the captain and Rishabh Pant as the vice-captain of the 18-member squad for the upcoming England series. There are several surprises in store. Two players have been called up to the Indian Test team, while one has been called up for the first time in international cricket. However, pacer Mohammed Shami, who has been the centre of speculation for a few days, has not been included.
Sai Sudarshan and Arshdeep Singh have been included in the Indian Test team for the first time. Among them, Sai Sudarshan has come into the discussion due to his excellent performance in the ongoing IPL and domestic cricket. Earlier, Sudarshan, who played 3 ODIs and one T20 for Gujarat in the national team, played IPL. And Arshdeep is becoming a name of trust in both white ball formats. Apart from this, Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur have been included in the Test squad after a long 8 years and after a year and a half.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has not yet made his debut in international cricket, is also in the Indian squad. However, he was called up to the national team before this. The list of batsmen in the announced Indian team includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, Lokesh Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Gill, Sudarshan, Nair and Dhruv Jurel. And as all-rounders, there are two spin and pace options each in Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Kuldeep Yadav is the only specialist spinner. The pace department is made up of five players – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep.
India is going to play Tests for the first time after the retirement of Rohit, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kohli. Apart from this, Mohammad Shami was not able to play Tests as he was not fully fit. He returned to the field after a year in February due to ankle surgery. But this experienced star pacer has been seen uncomfortable in the ongoing IPL. Apart from this, Sarfaraz Khan and Harshit Rana have been left out of India’s last Border-Gavaskar series. Apart from this, Tanush Kotian and Devdoot Padikkal, who were called up as replacements, have also not been given a place.
India’s Test squad:
Shubman Gill (captain), Yashaswi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain and wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krincha, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur and Arshdeep Singh.
