India tests in England 2025

[PKBasu]

India will play 5 tests in England this summer, starting at Leeds on 20th June (a very tough assignment, relatively early in the season). Bumrah needs to be fit for the Leeds test. It will be followed by Edgbaston, Lords, Old Trafford and the Oval (in that order). Shane Bond says Bumrah shouldn't play more than 2 tests in succession. If so, I would rest him for Lord's and the Oval, play him at Old Trafford after the first two tests.

Karun Nair should be a shoo-in for the test squad after his 86 and 135 in the Ranji final, and a great season in List A cricket too. There will be an India A tour (4 matches) before the tests. India should force Kohli to play for India A to get into the test groove (especially if RCB is knocked out early from the IPL).

[Rajkumar Sharma]

India A games belong to domestic performers not for national team players.Kohlis, Rohits should play warm up games against county sides, not destroy the dreams of young performers which they have been doing in last few tours. Ricky Bhui is a big example of such process.

[PKBasu]

There are no "warm up games against county sides" scheduled. So the India A matches are the only opportunity for our test players to gain some familiarity with English conditions before the test series. In any case, the county championship will not be on during that period (T20 Blast etc will be happening instead), so our test players can't even sign up for a county to get first class practice.

[prasen9]

Rohit, Kohli, and Rahul should be dropped and we should go with the next generation. They need a tour before they adapt and figure it out. We will not win in England with this lot. So, we should move on to the next gen.

[Rajkumar Sharma]

https://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/133 ... udi-trophy

[Rajkumar Sharma]

https://m.economictimes.com/news/sports ... 366917.cms

[prasen9]

Rohit Sharma retires. Great. So, we need some openers.

Yashasvi and ?

Our best batters in Australia were Pant, Nitish Reddy after Yashasvi. Overall Jurel and Sarfaraz have done well. Both Gill and Rahul are really poor.

In practice, they are going to take all of Gill, Rahul, and Kohli - the architects of our failure in tests.

My XI: Yashasvi, Easwaran, Padikkal, Sarfaraz, Pant, Jurel, Reddy, Jadeja, ...

but in practice they are going to send in:

Yashasvi, Rahul, Gill, Kohli, Pant, Jurel, Reddy, Jadeja, Shami, Bumrah, Siraj

On a pitch that may assist spinners, we may see Sundar for Jurel.

Backup batter in Australia was Padikkal. Backup pacer: Akash Deep.

I would like Mukesh to be taken too because it will swing in England. And, Axar as the backup in case Jadeja or Sundar are injured and we get a spinning pitch.

[indiansportsfan]

I don't think Jurel is going to be selected, he didn't do well in the 1 match he played in Australia and he has done nothing much to talk about since then as well. Sai Sudarshan or even Karun Nair may get selected in his place. Sarfaraz may also get selected in the squad, but unlikely to make it to playing XI. All in all, not looking like a good squad, but England hasn't been that great as well. The result may well depend on how each camp is feeling and how motivated they are to perform.

[prasen9]

The problem is England has Root, who is perhaps in the form of his life and in the last year the best batsman in the world. He, lonehandedly, won in Chennai and has pulled England to victory in many cases.

We are going to lose this series. I predicted a whitewash in the Australia series. I think we won one match due to Bumrah's brilliance and eked out a draw in another due to rain, etc. If we play the old guard, which I am 90% sure we will, they will be lower middle class, i.e., poorer than average, with one innings here and there and a bunch of failures. Kohli, Rahul, Gill will follow this pattern. They cannot consistently do well in SENA. Kohli could but not anymore. So, we will lose this series to finally realize this and the call will be loud enough to shame Kohli to retire finally. Then, the rebuilding can happen.

I would have Bumrah as the captain and Yashasvi as the vice-captain. Bumrah plays Tests 1, 2 and then again 4, 5. Of course, that is perhaps not going to happen. Then, I do not mind Bumrah as the captain and Pant as the VC.

Jurel did more than Sarfraz did in the chances he got. And, certainly both of them did better than what Padikkal did. I don't mind bringing in Karun Nair.

Sai Sudarshan is a terrible choice because he has not even averaged 40 in the weak Indian FC system where you feast on minnows. So, averages below 50 for MO batters and perhaps 47 for openers are not worthy of getting in the world's best (or close enough and wants to be best) test team.

But, realistically, I agree with what you said. The selectors are idiots and they choose test players based on IPL success, etc. Somehow Padikkal is a blue-eyed boy while Jurel has to prove himself. Sarfaraz has to perform super humanly to be given a fair run, etc.

[PKBasu]

Rohit Sharma, sadly, will go down as a mediocre test batsman, who failed to live up to his potential -- especially outside India. He averaged around 31 outside India, and 51-ish in India, with a career batting average of just over 40. That is much worse than Vishwanath, Vengsarkar and Ganguly -- who all played many more tests, and each scored thousands of runs more than Rohit.

But there is no doubt that Rohit is an ODI great, with a batting average above 48, the highest-ever ODI score and the only man so far to have made three double centuries in ODIs. An incredible record.

I was at the Eden Gardens when he made his brilliant 177 on test debut. So I feel sad that he didn't live up to the potential he showed in that innings. But he loved the Eden, where he made that brilliant 264 in an ODI as well. (I wasn't there for that innings though!).

[PKBasu]

I think Kohli or Bumrah should captain India for the England series, with Gill appointed as vice captain -- and perhaps captaining the India A side before the series as well. He needs some apprenticeship as captain, and also needs to find form in English conditions (where he has failed so far). Making him captain for the England tests is a recipe for disaster, in my opinion. Yashaswi Jaiswal too should be a contender for test captaincy, as he is the only man other than Bumrah who has a genuinely guaranteed place in the test side. (Rahul is close too, but has just had one series back; Pant is too mercurial and failed with the bat in Australia).

[PKBasu]

Likely side for the first test, which begins on 20th June:

Jaiswal, Abimanyu Easwaran, Gill, Kohli, Karun Nair, Rahul (wk), Nitish Reddy/H Pandya, Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Bumrah (c), Mukesh Kumar/Unadkat.

[prasen9]

Gill will be chosen captain. He has a huge lobby that does not want him dropped. The best way to do that - give him a long rope, very long - is to choose him as captain. Pant is much more deserving and is much more a permanent fixture in the team but the powers want the same captain across all formats eventually. Etc.

From your side, Easwaran will not be chosen. He will not even feature in the XV. Rahul will not keep wickets in tests. Pant will. There is no reason to drop him. He was and has been the only player who can bat in SENA after Kohli. There is no way Unadkat will be chosen. Most possibly Mukesh will also not be in the SV. Pandya will not be made to play tests. He himself has no interest.

Nair, maybe, but he just got dropped by Delhi or whatever team he plays in the IPL.

I would choose Easwaran and drop Kohli, Rahul, Gill.

Siraj may make a comeback. He has had a good IPL. Akash Deep is possibly before Mukesh. And, Gambhir loves Harshit Rana. So, expect Rana to play.

But, all this is my speculation. Let us see.

[SaniaFan]

It seems Virat wants to retire before England tour and team management wants him to be part of the tour
https://m.economictimes.com/news/new-up ... 047610.cms

[prasen9]

Thank you Kohli. While he may not be worse than Rahul and Gill, it is time to overhaul this team and rebuild. Give the youngsters a chance and let us see if they can cut it. Unfortunately, Rahul will not retire so soon.