India’s new Test captain, Shubman Gill, who was supposed to join India A squad for the second match in Northampton, is likely to miss the match. The India A vs England Lions series starts on May 30 in Canterbury. Gill and Sai Sudharsan were supposed to join the squad for the second match, which starts on June 6. However, with the IPL 2025 final ending on June 3, he will hardly have any rest.
Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans will play the IPL 2025 playoffs. While it is yet to be decided whether GT will play the Eliminator or Qualifier 1, their campaign will go on at least till May 30. If GT play the Eliminator and get knocked out, their campaign ends on May 30. However, if they qualify for Qualifier 2, GT’s campaign will last until June 1, at least.
Hence, the BCCI will allow him to rest for a week before flying to Beckenham for the intra-squad match on June 16, as per an Indian Express report. Gill was appointed the new Test captain after Rohit Sharma stepped down and retired from Test cricket.
India A vs England Lions
With the India squad for the England Tests out, it will allow some of the players an opportunity to acclimatise to England conditions. For many, this is their first England tour. However, for others, the two-match India A series was meant to help them get into the groove of red-ball cricket after a long white-ball season and two months of IPL.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur have all travelled to England already. The rest of the players would leave for England in a day or two, barring the likes of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan.
The series will also allow Gautam Gambhir to test a few players like Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur before they return to the Test side. India would also need to test Sai Sudharsan as an opener. Ryan ten Doeschate, who is India’s batting coach, will accompany the India A team to England.
India A squad
Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (VC) (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan
India Test squad
Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
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