Probable India Test squad for England: No Shami or Shreyas Iyer; Sarfaraz Khan & Karun Nair in?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to announce the India cricket team’s squad for the upcoming England Test tour tomorrow. Everyone seems to be waiting to see who will be named captain. But that’s just one player. The BCCI is expected to announce an 18-man squad. This leaves us with 17 players, who’ll be selected. But there will be few who were in the scheme of things but won’t make the cut in the end.

Sarfaraz Khan & Karun Nair over Shreyas Iyer

Yashasvi Jaiswal is the designated opener. But who will be Rohit Sharma’s replacement? It was KL Rahul in Australia, but there are other options. Shubman Gill might return there. Sai Sudharsan is also an option. Abhimanyu Easwaran has been close to making the team, but it seems that won’t happen this time around with four openers already present.

One of Gill, Rahul, and Sudharsan will open. The other two are likely to bat at numbers three and four. For the fifth spot, which is perhaps the most open, we have three options: Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, and Shreyas Iyer. Neither played in Australia, but Sarfaraz was part of the squad. He’s part of India A as well, along with Nair. Reports suggest that Shreyas will miss out. His performance was good in the Ranji Trophy but not nearly as incredible as Nair’s or Sarfaraz, who has been on the team for over a year now.

No Ishan Kishan

For numbers six and seven, you have Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. They have been holding these spots for a while, and that will continue. Dhruv Jurel will be Pant’s backup as the second wicketkeeper. Ishan Kishan has returned to the Test fold via India A selection, but can’t play ahead of Jurel. Washington Sundar will be the second spin-bowling all-rounder. He was there in Australia, and considering how dry pitches in England might be, he is important to have in the squad.

Shardul Thakur back

There will be two pace-bowling all-rounders: Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur. The latter was easily the best player in the second half of the Ranji Trophy. The former played in Australia but didn’t bowl enough. However, his batting was good, and considering that he might swing the ball, Nitish Reddy will be there in England as well.

No place for Shami

There will be five fast bowlers and one spinner. With Shardul and Nitish there, five pacers ought to do the trick. Mohammed Shami will miss out. Apart from reports suggesting so, one can see he’s got no rhythm. And he’s what many call a rhythm bowler. No one knows where his fitness is either. The BCCI hasn’t said anything about him, and not selecting Shami for India A is a clear indication of what’s about to happen.

Jasprit Bumrah will lead the attack. Mohammed Siraj will be the second name after him. He’s a swing bowler and is a must-have in England. Prasidh Krishna might be India’s best bowler after Bumrah. He was great in Australia in the solitary match he played and has been a standout performer for Gujarat Titans as well. Akash Deep and Harshit will be the fourth seamers. There might be a chance that neither plays.

Harshit Rana, the right call?

One might have wanted Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, or Khaleel Ahmed to play ahead of Harshit. But the management, head coach Gautam Gambhir in particular, rates him very highly. All three are swing bowlers, and two of them are left-arm pacers. But Harshit played in Australia, and neither of them was even part of the squad.

Kuldeep Yadav, India’s Ashwin replacement

Lastly, Kuldeep Yadav will be selected. As mentioned above, the pitches in England might be there. That suggests spinners will come into play. Jadeja will play, and then we might have Kuldeep come into the mix as well. He’s a better spinner than Jadeja and Washington. One might view him as Ravichandran Ashwin’s replacement.