The next edition of the World Test Championship is already upon is, and for the first time in the competition’s history, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli won’t partake. The BCCI recently announced India’s squad for the upcoming tour of England.
Shubman Gill has been named the captain of the squad following Rohit and Kohli’s retirements, with Rishabh Pant serving as his deputy. The squad features the return of Karun Nair as well as the inclusion of Sai Sudharsan. Both calls have been met with an understandable amount of praise.
India’s squad for the Test series vs England: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk/vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
At the same time, however, a few names unfortunately didn’t make the cut. On that note, here are three players who were unlucky to miss out on India’s squad for the England Tests.
#3 Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer has shown an ability to play gritty innings under challenging circumstances. Although his technique is a bit suspect to handle swinging conditions, England are expected to dish out flat tracks that serve their aggressive batting philosophy.
Shreyas, on his part, has made drastic improvements to his game. Not as uncomfortable against the short ball anymore, the middle-order batter has made a mountain of runs in white-ball cricket and has added a lot of value through his leadership. In a series where India will be without Rohit and Kohli, he could’ve been useful.
While it’s understandable why the selectors didn’t want to pick him, Shreyas – who did well in the few Ranji Trophy matches he played – might feel a touch hard done by.
#2 Sarfaraz Khan
Another player who has been in and around the Test team, Sarfaraz Khan’s prolific domestic run-scoring hasn’t translated to the international level. The plucky batter’s rivers of runs dried up following a bright debut, and he seems to have paid the price for the same.
India instead chose Karun Nair, whose domestic form was nothing short of sensational. And while it’s a positive to see Karun’s returns being rewarded, Sarfaraz has been racking up similar volumes of runs for well over half a decade now. He hasn’t been given a sustained run at the Test level, and dropping him without trying him out consistently is a bit harsh.
#1 Harshit Rana
Another player who was part of India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Harshit Rana’s maiden Test outing didn’t go to plan despite a promising debut. Struggling with his accuracy at times, the young fast bowler isn’t a finished product yet.
While Rana has been named in the A team, he hasn’t made the senior side. The likes of Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh have pipped him to a spot. The 23-year-old still has a long career ahead of him and will likely be central to India’s plans going forward, but he might be a touch disappointed at having lost out on the opportunity to tour England after just a couple of indifferent outings.
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Edited by Sai Krishna
