India Announces Test Squad for England Tour, Shubman Gill Becomes 5th Youngest Test Captain
On May 24, Shubman Gill, with 1,893 runs in 32 Test matches since debuting in 2020 against Australia, was named the new Test captain of the Indian cricket team. Rishabh Pant was selected as the vice-captain. The announcement came during a BCCI meeting held in Mumbai. An 18-member squad was also revealed for the five-Test England tour beginning on June 20.
Following the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair have earned spots in the squad, while Shardul Thakur makes a return. The meeting was attended by BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia and members of the men's selection committee.
Shubman Gill: 5th Youngest Indian Test Captain
At 25 years and 258 days old, Gill becomes the fifth-youngest cricketer to captain India in Tests. The only players younger than him were: Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (21 years, 77 days), Sachin Tendulkar (23 years, 169 days), Kapil Dev (24 years, 48 days), and Ravi Shastri (25 years, 229 days).
Karun Nair Makes Comeback After 8 Years
33-year-old Karun Nair is set to play his first Test since 2017. His impressive domestic form earned him a recall. In the last Ranji Trophy season, Nair scored 863 runs with four centuries across 9 matches. He also scored 779 runs with five centuries in eight innings of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, helping Vidarbha win the Ranji title and reach the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Nair has already been named in the India A squad, which will depart for England shortly.