Ajit Agarkar Rules Out Shreyas Iyer’s Inclusion in Test Squad: 'No Room for Him'

The Indian Test squad has officially entered a long-awaited transition phase with the appointment of Shubman Gill as the leader for the coming five-match series against England. Rishabh Pant is to be his vice-captain.

The team includes a high-profile returnee in Karun Nair, who returns to the national team after an eight-year break. Nair, who last played in 2017, was dropped shortly after becoming only the second Indian batsman to have achieved a triple century in Test cricket.

A prominent omission from the team is veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who was excluded due to fitness issues before the physically demanding series.

Promising players such as left-handed batsman B Sai Sudharsan and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh have got their first Test call-ups after making a mark with their performances in domestic cricket.

Among the notable absentees from the team is Shreyas Iyer. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar reason for his missing out was, "Shreyas had a good one-day series, played well in domestic as well but right now there's no room in Test cricket."

At 25 years of age, Shubman Gill becomes India's fourth-youngest Test skipper after legends Sachin Tendulkar (23), Kapil Dev (24), and Ravi Shastri (25).

The five-match Test series against England will begin on June 20 in Leeds.

Squad list:
Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.