The BCCI will announce the Test squad for the England tour on Saturday, May 24. Most players from the recent tour of Australia are expected to hold their places. Now with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stepping down, there might be opportunities for some of the India A players to make it into the national side.
Bumrah will continue to lead the pace attack but will miss a few games. He gave the BCCI bad news prior to the selection meeting, saying his body couldn’t withstand more than three Test matches at present. He had the opportunity to play in all five Tests in Australia, but injured his back during the fifth Test and was unable to bowl in the chase even as the captain.
Since Bumrah had missed quite a few matches due to his back issues, and may thus see his chances for becoming the Test captain diminish. He was Vice-Captain for three years to Rohit and was considered a very strong contender. However, his injury has thrown up some doubts. It doesn’t seem that he will even be named as the vice-captain.
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Shubman Gill is reportedly the frontrunner for the position of Test captain. Notably, he has never been involved in the Test leadership group before. He first captained the T20I team on the Zimbabwe tour, following the 2024 T20 World Cup, before being appointed vice-captain for white-ball formats from the Sri Lanka series. He also acted as Rohit’s deputy in the 2025 Champions Trophy, in which India emerged victorious.
Rishabh Pant would be the expected choice for the new vice-captain. He has led the T20I team, is very much a Test regular from the time of his debut in 2018.
