Shubman Gill Anointed India’s Test Captain, Rishabh Pant his Deputy, 18-Member Squad Announced for England Tour
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 24: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced an 18-member Indian squad for the coming five-test series against England in England starting on June 20 with the prolific young batsman Shubman Gill as the captain and the wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant as his deputy.
Gill has been anointed as India’s 37th test captain. Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of the national men’s selection panel, announced the squad on Saturday afternoon, minutes after the five wise men sat down at the BCCI headquarters for stamping Gill’s coronation.
While Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur have been recalled into the Test squad, B. Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh received maiden call-up in India whites. “Over the last year or so, we have looked at Shubman at various times. You take a lot of feedback from the dressing room as well. Obviously he is very young,” Agarkar said.
“We have seen the improvement – I know it’s T20 cricket for Gujarat Titans – but we take feedback from a lot of people, and we are hopeful that he’s the guy who can… it’s obviously going to be, like it always is, a high-pressure job. But we are hopeful we have picked the right guy. He is a terrific player and our best wishes for him.
When asked if K.L. Rahul could have been a better choice for a critical tour, considering his experience as captain in the past, Agarkar stressed the selectors have invested in Gill with an eye on the long run. “You don’t pick captains for one or two tours. We want to invest in something that’s going to help us going forward. You are always hoping that it’s the right call. We have seen some progress over the last year or two with him,” he said.
“There is no doubt that it is going to be as tough as it gets, in a five-match series in England. Maybe he will have to learn on the job a little bit. But we are very confident with what he has to offer and that’s the reason we have picked him.”
Agarkar conceded that the selection committee looked beyond Jasprit Bumrah – who led India in two of the five Border Gavaskar Trophy matches – due to Bumrah’s importance to the set-up as a bowler. “I don’t think he is available for all five Tests. That’s what the physios and the doctors have told us. Needless to say how important he is,” Agarkar said.
“Whether he is fit for three or four Tests, he is going to win us a few Test matches. We are just glad that he is fit after the setback he had in Australia….“He is more important to us as a player (than as a captain). You want him fit. It’s always when you are leading, managing 15-16 other people, there is a lot that it takes out of you. We would rather have him bowl as well as he does than putting the extra burden on him. He is aware of it. We have had a chat with him and he is okay with it.”
“With KL Rahul, not really, basically he captained a while back but I was not there at that time. We hope he has a big series. Agarkar emphasised that a captain is not selected for one or two series and long-term planning has to be kept in mind while making such calls. “You don’t select a captain for one or two series, you have to plan for the longer term. We are hopeful that he [Shubman Gill] will learn with time,” Agarkar said.
At 25, Gill has become one of the youngest players to hold the position in recent years. Though he lacks captaincy experience in the red-ball format, he has led India in a five-match T20I assignment in Zimbabwe in 2024. Gill has also been captaining the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League.
Gill has also been serving as vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is. He was Rohit Sharma’s deputy in India’s victorious Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE in February 2025. In Test cricket, Gill has played 32 matches and scored 1,893 runs, including five centuries.
He also shed lights on the star batsman Virat Kohli’s sudden decision to retire from the test cricket… Kohli delivered the shocking news earlier this month, days after India captain Rohit Sharma announced his Test retirement. Mr Agarkar revealed that Kohli reached out to the BCCI in early April, having already made up his mind to retire from the format. “Virat reached out early April & said he had made up his mind (to retire from Test cricket),” Agarkar said during the press conference.
The Squad:
Shubman Gill (Capt.), Rishabh Pant (VC, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B. Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, M. Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
