Shubman Gill becomes India's 37th Test captain, Rishabh Pant named vice-captain for England tour 2025

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on May 24 announced Shubman Gill as the 37th captain of the Indian Test team. He will lead the side in the upcoming five-match Test series against England, which begins on June 20. The series will also mark the start of India’s new World Test Championship cycle for 2025–27. Rishabh Pant has been appointed as the vice-captain for the series.

This leadership change comes following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from Test cricket. Rohit announced his retirement from the longest format on May 7, while Kohli followed on May 12. Both players played significant roles in India's Test setup over the last decade, and their exit has opened the door for a new leadership group to take charge.

The squad features a mix of retained players from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour to Australia and a few new faces. Among the batters, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, and Nitish Kumar Reddy have been named. Sudharsan, who was part of India A earlier, receives his first Test call-up. Karun Nair, who last played Test cricket in 2017, makes a return.

The bowling department includes Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh. Mohammed Shami has not been included in the squad. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar clarified that Shami has not built the required workload for long spells in Test cricket, which is the reason behind his exclusion from the squad.

Among the all-rounders and spinners, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav have been named. Wicketkeeping duties will be handled by Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel. Shardul Thakur also returns to the squad as a seam-bowling all-rounder. The squad announcement marks the beginning of a new phase in Indian Test cricket following major leadership transitions.