India's new Test captain and squad for England tour likely to be announced on this date

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee and head coach Gautam Gambhir are likely to announce India's new Test captain and the squad for the upcoming England tour on May 24.  

Shubman Gill has been dubbed as frontrunner for the role amidst injury concerns around Jasprit Bumrah who has led India in three Tests including two in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. 

The five-Test series will commence on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds. Before the Test series, India will play a four-day warm-up game starting June 13 at Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham.

Easwaran named India A captain

Last week, the men's selection committee named India A squad for England tour. Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead the side for two first-class matches against the England Lions at Canterbury and Northampton. Hrishikesh Kanitkar will be the head coach for India A's games. After the completion of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Gill and Sai Sudharsan will join the squad for the second match.

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India A squad for England tour -

Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (vc & wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey

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Players in focus on India A tour -

After Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin's retirement from the format, there are three spots up for grabs. While Washington Sundar is above Tanush Kotian in the pecking order, the latter will have a point to prove in England. If Karun Nair has to make a comeback to Indian Test side, he will have to score runs in the series for the middle order spot.

When Sudharsan joins the side after IPL commitments, he will be seen as the next opener or any of the spot in the top four. It is also a chance for fit-again Sarfaraz Khan to retain his place. In addition, Akash Deep will face stiff competition from Mukesh Kumar. Deep who got injured on Australia tour claimed just five wickets from two Tests before he got injured.