Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal Among Star Players Picked in India A Squad for England Tour

The squad for India A for the upcoming tour of England has been announced. Veteran domestic cricketer Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead the side, which has a no. of international players as well. The team looks strong, and the players will be looking to create an impact here. Wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel has been appointed the vice-captain of this team.

The series will be important considering the senior team's tour of England in the month of June. India A's tour of England will begin from May 30 in Canterbury. India A will play two unofficial four-day matches against England Lions. They will also play an intra-squad game from June 13 and help prepare India's senior side to acclimatize to the English conditions before the beginning of the Test series.

India A Squad for England Tour Announced

The India A squad also consists of mainstream India players like Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. All of these players have a high chance of playing in India's five-match Test series against England starting from June. In fact, Gill is also the frontrunner to become India's next Test captain. However, he will play as a specialist batter for India A.

The squad also consists of players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep, and Harshit Rana. All these players were part of India's Test squad for the tour of Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. All these players are likely to feature in India's Test tour of England as well. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who hasn't played international cricket for a long time, is also a part of this squad.

Among all the players who have been selected in this squad, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan will join the team from the second unofficial Test. Both Gill and Sudharsan are part of Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025 and are the openers for their team. Both are in fine form in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Karun Nair Back for Contention

Another big news for the India A squad for England is the selection of Karun Nair. The 33-year-old has been knocking on the doors for a lot of time now. He has been in prime form in the domestic circuit across formats. After the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, there were speculations about Karun Nair's return. He now has a chance to stake a claim in India's team for the England tour, which will play five Tests.

Nair's Vidarbha teammate Harsh Dubey has also been rewarded for his consistent performances in first-class cricket. He recently broke the record for the most no. of wickets taken in a Ranji Trophy season. Manav Suthar and Tanush Kotian are the other two spinners in the squad. Kotian is seen as the successor of Ravichandran Ashwin in red-ball cricket, and was also a part of India's squad in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

No Shreyas Iyer in the Squad

A surprise exclusion from this squad was Shreyas Iyer, who has been in fantastic form in white-ball cricket recently. Iyer is currently leading Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 and was expected to be a part of the India A squad for England Test series 2025. However, the selectors have instead gone with the performances of players in domestic cricket.

Since Iyer hasn't found a place in the India A squad for England tour, he is unlikely to feature in the Test series as well. The right-hander last played a Test match in February 2024 against England. He was dropped from the team for his poor performances and was also removed from BCCI's central contracts. However, he was recently included in the contracts list after an impressive showing in the Champions Trophy.

India A Squad for England Tour

Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (vc) (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (wk), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal