Shubman Gill Named India’s Test Captain
Mumbai : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday named Shubman Gill as the new captain of the Indian Test team, with Rishabh Pant appointed as vice-captain, ahead of the upcoming five-match Test series against England.
The announcement follows the retirement of senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the longer format. The selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, also handed a maiden Test call-up to left-handed batter B. Sai Sudharsan, who has impressed in the domestic circuit.
Notably, Karun Nair has been recalled to the national side, marking his return to the Test fold after a gap of seven years. However, Mohammed Shami was excluded from the squad, with Agarkar citing fitness concerns.
“We have been considering Shubman for a leadership role for over a year. It’s a high-pressure position, but he is a terrific player and we believe he is the right person to take Indian cricket forward,” said Agarkar.
Regarding Shami’s absence, the chief selector stated:
“His workload hasn’t reached the required level for a long series. We were hoping he would be available, but at the moment he is not fully fit.”
Harshit Rana and Sarfaraz Khan, who were part of the squad during the Australia tour, have been left out.
India Squad for England Test Series:
Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, K. L. Rahul, B. Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
