Recent news has it that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has narrowed down the Indian players list to 35, in preparation for a tour to England, as per the reports. The current Indian captain is said to be in the list considering many people talking about him with the Times of India that these players will break down into two groups, namely India and India A. The selection committee is expected to announce the squads by the second week of May.
Despite Rohit’s bad form during the recently-ended Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the BCCI plans to retain him as captain for the tough series ahead. On the contrary, they are a bit hesitant considering Sarfaraz Khan’s reliability as a middle-order batsman. Because of this, the selection committee will likely recall Karun Nair and Rajat Patidar, both in great form, into the Tests setup. There might be a chance that Sai Sudharsan gets the call as a third opener.
As inconsistent as he has been in red-ball cricket, Shreyas Iyer’s place in the Test team remains unclear. A BCCI source told TOI, There is very little faith in Sarfaraz Khan in the middle order, but Rohit is probably going to travel because the board feels we need a strong captain for this series, which could be as tough as the tour of Australia.
The same source mentions that Nair and Patidar are both seasoned players and are doing the job well. At least one of them should be part of the India ‘A’ team. Iyer is yet to make an exit, but his dropping last year was seen owing to his poor performance in Tests, whereas a final decision on him has yet to be made. With Ravichandran Ashwin retiring, there are chances that Kuldeep Yadav could be the main picked spinner for the tour. Axar Patel’s chances look bleak too, as the team might want to pick a few backup pacers during this tour, especially considering Shami’s and Jasprit Bumrah’s injury woes.
