Shubman Gill to lead India Test team in England; Karun Nair back in squad after 7 yrs

Mumbai: Batting star Shubman Gill has been named as the new captain of India's Test team, succeeding recently retired Rohit Sharma, for the five-Test series in England starting in June. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been chosen as the vice-captain of the Test team. 

Malayali Karun Nair, who had a dream domestic season with Vidarbha, also re-entered the national team after a seven-year gap. 

"Last year or so, we have looked at Shubman (for leadership). We are hopeful he is the guy who is going (to take the team forward). It is a high-pressure job, but he is a terrific player. We wish him all the best," said chief selector Ajit Agarkar after announcing the squad.

He told reporters that the selectors did not consider KL Rahul or Jasprit Bumrah to the top job for the long format. 

India's 18-member squad also includes Shardul Thakur and Sai Sudharsan. The biggest surprise was Mohammed Shami, who missed the cut.  Commenting on his exclusion, Agarkar said: “His workload is not what it needs to be...at the moment he is not fit”.

From the tour of Australia, Harshit Rana and Sarfaraz Khan have been dropped.

Gill's elevation follows Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format. Along with Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin have also bid farewell to Tests.

At 25 years and 258 days, Gill becomes the fifth-youngest cricketer to captain India in Tests. 

Indian Team
Subman Gill, Rishabh Pant (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshadeep Singh, Prasifh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav.