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Following Rohit Sharma's retirement from Test Cricket, right-hand batter Shubman Gill is likely to be named the captain of the Indian Cricket Team in the longest format, as per sources.
On May 7, Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket after a career spanning 67 Tests and 11 years, ahead of the England tour, kickstarting India's ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle from June 20 onwards. He amassed 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score of 212 came during a memorable home series against South Africa in 2019. He finishes as India's 16th-highest run-getter in the longest format. After Rohit's departure, Shubman Gill is the frontrunner to lead the Indian side in whites, whereas wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is the likely choice as as his deputy. Right-arm seamer Jasprit Bumrah was also considered a potential candidate for the Test captaincy; however, recurring injury concerns in recent times have diminished his prospects. Another name in contention was middle-order batter KL Rahul, but at 33, his age is seen as a limiting factor for a long-term leadership role. The India A squad for the tour to England was announced on May 16, with several notable players part of the squad, including Karun Nair, who got the reward for an extraordinary season of domestic cricket. As a part of the tour, India A will play two first-class matches against the England Lions at Canterbury and Northampton on May 30 and June 6, before concluding their outing with an intra-squad match against Team India on June 13 at Beckenham. The team will be led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been a domestic cricket stalwart for Bengal, with 101 first-class games, 7,674 runs at an average of 48.87, 27 centuries and 29 fifties behind him. He did have a disappointing tour to Australia last year, where he ended up with just 36 runs in four innings. 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. (ANI)
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