The Indian cricket squad for the Test series against England was announced on Saturday by BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar. While the likes of Sai Sudharshan, Karun Nair, Arshdeep Singh got call-ups on expected lines, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami was not included due to his fitness. Two names which were ignored, much to the surprise in some quarters, were Sarfaraz Khan and Shreyas Iyer. The latter has been in terrific touch in recent times both in the limited overs format for India and in the IPL 2025. He has Test experience too but he was ignored.
BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar said there’s no room at the moment for Shreyas Iyer in the Test team. “Shreyas had a good one-day series, played well in domestic as well but right now there’s no room in Test cricket,” he was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
Karun Nair, who’s handed a Test call-up after seven years on the back of consistent performances in domestic cricket, has been backed by Agarkar to come good in England after getting the nod ahead of Sarfaraz Khan. “Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test and then didn’t get runs. Sometimes it’s decisions the team management takes.”
“At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we’re lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help.”
With Mohammed Shami not fully fit, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has been handed a maiden Test call-up. Both Arshdeep and Karun have had county stints with Kent and Northamptonshire respectively.
“He’s a quality bowler and has had a taste of county as well. he plays domestic when he can. A tall guy, can bowl with the new ball, has body of work in red-ball cricket and in recent form in the last couple of years. Bumrah unlikely to play all five Tests, we needed a bit of variety.”
Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy are the seam-bowling all-rounders, with Agarkar backing the duo to shine in England. “Shardul a bowling allrounder, sometimes you need a player like that depending on team balance. he’s going on the A tour as well. Nitish is a batting allrounder at this point, hopefully his bowling will come along as well.”
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