Sudharsan, Nair likely to be picked for England tour: Report
What's the story
India's upcoming tour of England will see Shubman Gill leading the Indian Test team, as per Cricbuzz. The 25-year-old Punjab batsman will captain the side in a five-match series against England. This comes as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both seasoned players, have recently announced their retirement from Test cricket. The final squad is expected to be announced on Saturday, May 24, 2025, after a meeting of the national selection committee in Mumbai.
Domestic performance
Sudharsan, Nair's domestic success boosts England tour prospects
The England tour squad will largely be similar to the team that recently toured Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair could be new faces considering their phenomenal performances in the recent domestic season. Nair was a consistent run-scorer in the domestic circuit last season with four centuries from nine Ranji Trophy games and five centuries from eight Vijay Hazare Trophy innings.
IPL impact
Sudharsan's IPL success and potential Test spot
Sudharsan, who is the leading run-scorer in IPL 2025 with 638 runs, is also likely to get a place on the England tour. He has already been named in India's A squad for their second match against England Lions. Despite his successful opening partnership with Gill in the ongoing IPL season, he is unlikely to open in England. KL Rahul has been informally indicated to bat upfront alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Information
New position for Gill
Gill, who has been India's number three in Tests since the ouster of Cheteshwar Pujara, is likely to bat at number four against England following Kohli's retirement. This vacates the number three spot for the likes of Nair and Sudharsan.
Team composition
Potential squad for England tour
As per Cricbuzz, India's likely Test squad for the England tour will include Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Sai Sudharsan, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rishabh Pant, Druv Jurel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav.