Bumrah Captain, Gill At 4: India's Strongest XI For Test Series Against England

Bumrah Captain, Gill At 4: India's Strongest XI For Test Series Against England

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News18.com

Last Updated: May 13, 2025, 20:21 IST

India will face England in a five-match Test series. The series opener is scheduled to take place at Headingley in Leeds from June 20.

India's strongest playing XI for Test series against England. (Picture Credit: AP, AFP)

The Indian men’s cricket team will travel to England next month to take part in a five-match Test series that starts on June 20 in Leeds, and the next four matches are scheduled to take place in Birmingham, Lord’s, Manchester and The Oval, respectively. The Indian team will play the England series without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The two legends of Indian cricket announced their retirement from the traditional format of the game on May 7 and May 12, respectively.

If reports are to be believed then Shubman Gill will captain the Indian team in the first series of the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, but the possibility of Jasprit Bumrah getting charge of the Indian team can’t be ruled out either. The 31-year-old fast bowler from Ahmedabad was India’s vice-captain in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and he even captained the side in two matches as well against the Aussies.

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The majority of the players that travelled to Australia last year in November for the five-match series are likely to feature in the England series as well, but there is a possibility of including a couple of new faces as well in the squad.

Tamil Nadu batter B Sai Sudharsan is certain to be part of the England Test series, and Mumbai all-rounder Shardul Thakur could also be considered for the away series after his superb performances with the bat and ball for Mumbai in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season.

KL Rahul opened for India in four out of five Tests against Australia and impressed with his batting show. He is likely to continue as opener in the England series as well and partner Yashasvi Jaiswal. Jaiswal amassed a total of 712 runs against England in the five-match series played in India last year, and he would like to come up with a big show with the bat in the series starting next month as well.

Sudharsan is likely to bat at No. 3, and Gill, who has played 17 Tests as a No. 3 batter, could take the No. 4 position, which was previously associated with Kohli. Rishabh Pant has batted at No. 5 for India in the whites, and despite his decent struggles, he is expected to continue as the No. 5 batter and keep the gloves as well.

Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy are likely to be India’s first-choice two all-rounders but could face serious competition from Washington Sundar and Thakur.

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Bumrah will lead the bowling attack in England and will have Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami for support. Based on the current performance, Prasidh Krishna is also expected to start ahead of Akash Deep in the high-profile away series.

India’s strongest XI for Test series against India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah (C), Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

First Published: May 13, 2025, 20:21 IST

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