Ye series Rohit Sharma aur Virat Kohli ke retire hone ke baad Bharatiya Test cricket ke naye daur ki shuruaat hai. 2025–27 ICC World Test Championship cycle ka hissa yeh paanch-Teston ki series 20 June 2025 se Headingley, Leeds mein shuru hogi. Baaki matches Edgbaston (Birmingham, 2 July), Lord’s (London, 10 July), Old Trafford (Manchester, 23 July), aur The Oval (London, 31 July) mein kheley jayenge. 25 saal ke Shubman Gill ko team ka captain banaya gaya hai aur Rishabh Pant ko vice-captain. Team mein naye aur anubhav wale players ka mix hai — B Sai Sudharsan, Arshdeep Singh, aur Karun Nair jaise naam shamil hain, jabki Shardul Thakur ki bhi team mein waapsi hui hai.
Shubman Gill ka Test captain banna youth leadership par BCCI ke bharose ko dikhata hai. 32 Tests mein 1,893 runs ke saath unka average 35.05 hai. IPL mein Gujarat Titans ki captaincy karne ke baad unke tactical skills ko siraha gaya hai. Jasprit Bumrah ko captain nahi banaya gaya, kyunki unka workload aur fitness concerns hain — unke saare paanch Tests khelne ki ummeed nahi hai. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar ne kaha: “Captain ek do series ke liye nahi chunta, humein lagta hai Gill waqt ke saath seekh jaayega.” Pant, jo vice-captain hain, Test cricket mein 40+ average ke saath ek match-winner hain. Agarkar ne kaha: “Pant humare best batters mein se ek hai, aur wicketkeeper hone ki wajah se game ko ache se samajh sakta hai.”
B Sai Sudharsan: 23 saal ke Tamil Nadu ke left-handed batter ko unki domestic aur IPL performance ke chalte pehli baar Test team mein liya gaya hai. 2024–25 ke Ranji Trophy mein unhone 76 average se 304 runs banaye (sirf 3 matches mein), ek double century ke saath. Unka overall first-class record bhi impressive hai — 29 matches mein 1,957 runs, 7 centuries. Surrey ke liye county cricket mein century bana chuke hain, isliye English conditions mein unka experience kaafi upyogi hoga.
Arshdeep Singh: Left-arm swing bowler, pehli baar Test team mein shamil. County stint ke dauraan unka English conditions mein performance acha raha. Zaheer Khan se compare kiya ja raha hai unke swing abilities ke liye. Mohammed Shami ke fitness concerns ke chalte Arshdeep ko jagah mili hai.
Karun Nair: 33 saal ke Nair 2017 ke baad pehli baar Test team mein waapas aaye hain. 2024–25 ke domestic season mein unhone Ranji Trophy mein 863 runs (avg. 53.93) aur Vijay Hazare Trophy mein 779 runs (8 innings mein 5 centuries) banaye. Unka 303* ka record England ke khilaf 2016 mein bana tha. Kohli ke jagah unhe No. 4 slot ya middle-order mein option ke roop mein dekha ja raha hai.
Puri team: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
Batting: Jaiswal aur KL Rahul likely openers hain. Sudharsan reserve opener ya middle-order mein khelenge. Gill ko Kohli ke No. 4 spot par dekha ja sakta hai. Nair aur Easwaran depth provide karte hain. Pant aur Jurel (second wicketkeeper) batting mein explosiveness laate hain. Nitish Kumar Reddy all-round option hai.
Bowling: Bumrah pace attack lead karenge, jise Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, aur Arshdeep support karenge. Shardul Thakur all-rounder ke roop mein useful hain — Ranji Trophy 2024–25 mein unhone 505 runs aur 35 wickets liye. Kuldeep Yadav lone specialist spinner hain, jabki Jadeja aur Sundar spin all-round options hain.
Mohammed Shami: Fitness issues ki wajah se nahi liye gaye. Agarkar ne kaha: “Umeed thi Shami fit ho jaayenge, par abhi wo ready nahi hain.”
Sarfaraz Khan & Harshit Rana: Australia tour ka hissa hone ke bawajood team mein nahi liye gaye.
Shreyas Iyer: IPL 2025 mein achha khelne ke bawajood unhe team mein jagah nahi mili.
India ka tour ek warm-up match ke saath shuru hoga — India A vs India, Beckenham (13–16 June). Is match mein Sudharsan, Nair, Easwaran, Jurel aur Thakur khelenge, jise players ke liye English conditions mein adjust hone ka moka milega. India A ko Abhimanyu Easwaran lead karenge.
Yeh series pehli baar hogi jab Rohit Sharma (4,301 runs) aur Virat Kohli (9,230 runs) nahi honge — dono ne May 2025 mein retirement le liya. Kohli ke No. 4 spot ko bharna aur naye leadership ko establish karna sabse badi chunautiyan hain. Gill ka overseas average 35.05 hai, aur Pant ka IPL form bhi recent mein low tha. Lekin dono mein potential hai. Bumrah ki workload management bhi zaruri hogi — Agarkar ne bola: “Physios ne advise kiya hai ki Bumrah paanchon Tests na khele.”
X (Twitter) par log Gill ki captaincy aur Sudharsan/Nair ke selection ko lekar excited hain. Lekin Shami ki non-selection par fans ne narazgi dikhayi hai, kyunki unka England mein achha record raha hai. Ben Stokes ki captaincy mein England strong hoga, aur Bharat ko naye daur ke saath competitive ban ke utarna hoga.
Yeh team future-oriented hai — youth + experience ka balance hai. Gill ke leadership mein India naye WTC cycle ki shuruaat karega. Yeh series test karegi ki India Rohit-Kohli ke baad kitna resilient hai. Sudharsan, Arshdeep jaise naye chehre aur Nair-Thakur jaise experienced players milkar naye daur ki buniyad rakhenge.
