After days of speculation and rumours, India's Test team was officially announced. It looked odd to see the side without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but it also signaled that the Men in Blue have now entered a transitional phase.
Shubman Gill has been named captain while Rishabh Pant has been appointed vice-captain. At just 25, Gill becomes the fourth-youngest to captain the Indian Test team, following in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar (23), Kapil Dev (24), and Ravi Shastri (25).
The team features several fresh faces and surprise inclusions. Karun Nair has marked his return to the national side after an eight-year hiatus, having last played in 2017. Young talents B Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh have also earned their maiden Test call-ups, thanks to impressive performances in domestic cricket.
While Sarfaraz Khan also misses out, one of the most talked-about omissions is veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, who has been ruled out due to fitness concerns.?
Another notable exclusion is star batter Shreyas Iyer, who has been in excellent form〞carrying his momentum from domestic cricket into the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and now making waves in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.?
However, when asked about the Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain's exclusion, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said: "Shreyas had a good one-day series and performed well in domestic cricket, but right now there's no room in the Test setup."?
India's tour of England kicks off on June 20 in Leeds, signaling a new chapter in the team＊s red-ball journey. While fans welcomed the inclusion of fresh faces and emerging talents, many took to X (formerly Twitter) to question the exclusion of a batter currently in such strong form.
One said, "Why is Shreyas Iyer not in the squad? He should be picked as a replacement for Abhimanyu Easwaran."?
Another said, "Shreyas Iyer＊s treatment lately has been puzzling. Form may fluctuate, but class and temperament〞especially in crunch ICC tournaments〞can＊t be ignored. Selectors really need to back proven performers, not just trending names."
One wrote, "This superstar gimmick is way too forced. We have a captain who's a proven winner in the IPL and has now won two ICC trophies back to back. There＊s absolutely no reason to gift the captaincy to that guy. If it's about ODIs, I would rather have Shreyas Iyer as captain〞at least he has pedigree."
Another wrote, "Absolutely bizarre... Karun and Sai are preferred over Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz? I just cannot imagine the rationale behind this selection."
One stated, "The Bombay lobby just selects Bombay players〞why even call it the Indian team? Captaining in Test cricket requires experience, and your milk baby Gill is inexperienced and out of form. You＊ll lose the series 5-0 to England. Why wasn't Shreyas Iyer selected?"
India's squad for the Test tour of England: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav.??