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With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 nearing its business end, all eyes are now set on India’s highly-anticipated tour of England, which is set to commence from June 20. However, the two quality sides will lock horns in a five-match series, starting from June 20 till August 4, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has a tough task at hand as they are still to announce the squad for the upcoming series.
Along with naming the squad, the selection committee will also name India’s new Test captain after Rohit Sharma put down curtains to his cricket career in the longest format, earlier this month. Although, the announcement is set to come out by May 24 after a board meeting scheduled to take place earlier in the day.
Cheteshwar Pujara unlikely to return for England Test series
However, the real picture will come out in a few hours time, several reports have claimed that the BCCI is not looking to include veteran Indian batter and Test mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both announcing retirement from Test cricket, there were a few conversations around Pujara’s possible return. However, a report in Cricbuzz stated that the selectors and team management are not in favour of ‘looking back’.
If the reports are to be believed, they might consider to include young prospects including Devdutt Padikkal or Sarfaraz Khan. "There was some chatter that the selectors should look at Cheteshwar Pujara (37) for a place in view of the absence of seniors like Rohit and Kohli. But the impression one gets is that the selectors and team management are in no mood to look back," the report read.
Speaking of the the squad selection, while Shubman Gill is being considered to lead the Men in Blue in the upcoming Test series after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s retirement, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is also being speculated as the front-runner to lead the side.
However, Jasprit Bumrah, who has served as the vice-captain on the previous tours, should ideally be elevated in the role, but the question comes over his long-term fitness and workload management, which might go against him. Moreover, there are also reports claiming KL Rahul being looked into the role, who adds to the batting depth with much-needed experience to back him.
