India vs England: Mohammed Shami to Shreyas Iyer, notable omissions from Team India’s squad for ENG series

Shubman Gill has been appointed as the captain of the Indian Test cricket team for the upcoming five-match series in England, starting June 20. This decision followed the retirement of Rohit Sharma from red-ball cricket and the recent retirement of former captain Virat Kohli. Gill, who made his Test debut five years ago, will be the 37th Test captain for India, with Rishabh Pant serving as his deputy.

The 27-year-old made his debut in the team in 2024 after impressively racking up runs in the domestic circuit. However, Sarfaraz Khan was left out of the India squad for the England tour, despite undergoing a significant fitness transformation.

During a press conference, Agarkar spoke about players who missed the cut without specifically naming Sarfaraz.

"We can't select 50 players right now, so when it comes to choosing 18, some players are bound to miss out," Agarkar stated.

Pacer Mohammed Shami has been excluded from India's squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against England, set to commence on June 20 at Headingley. Despite being a key player in India's last three Test tours of England, Shami was deemed unfit for selection by chief selector Ajit Agarkar. 

"His workload is not where it needs to be. We were hoping he will be available but it is unfortunate. At the moment he is not dully fit," BCCI chief selector Agarkar said at the press-conference.

Gautam Gambhir's favored player Harshit Rana has been excluded from the team following an inconsistent performance during the recent tour of Australia. Despite speculation that Rana might secure a spot in the lineup, those hopes have ultimately proven unfounded.

Shreyas Iyer has enjoyed a commendable campaign in white-ball cricket; however, the 30-year-old has yet to secure his position in the Test arena. Once again, he was overlooked for inclusion in the Test squad, despite his impressive performances in limited-overs formats. Iyer's most recent Test appearance was against England in Visakhapatnam on February 2, 2024. Over the course of 14 Test matches, he has accumulated a total of 811 runs, including one century to his credit.

Ajinkya Rahane performed well in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season and was expected to be selected for the England tour, especially with the retirements of key players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. However, he was overlooked by the selectors again. It is uncertain what this means for Rahane's future in international cricket.

Here's the entire 18-man India squad for the England tour: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudarshan, 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.