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Just a week ago, no one imagined that India’s tour to England coming up after IPL 2025 would be taking place without Rohit Sharma as captain. He had spoken of his ambitions to make an impression in England, before suddenly retiring from red-ball cricket. Now, as if that wasn’t shocking enough, the Indian camp has another devastating blow - Virat Kohli has told the BCCI he doesn’t want to play Tests anymore either! 

 

This has shocked Indian cricket fans. Although the BCCI have been keen for Kohli to reconsider, for now let’s assume that he does miss the five match Test series to begin the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. With Rohit out of the frame, Kohli likely out of the frame, and R. Ashwin out of the picture, the Indian Test set-up is moving into a new era. Let’s look at what the new squad might be for the England Tests without Kohli and Rohit.

 

The absence of these two legends creates a major hole in India's batting. It might finally be the time for Sai Sudharsan to get a proper run as a top-order batter after being a back-up opener. Sudharsan has done nothing wrong this season and has run pretty hot at the domestic level- hitting 304 runs at an average of 76 in the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy, including a fantastic 213 against Delhi.

 

Sudharsan's form in IPL 2025 has also been outstanding and has accumulated 509 runs in 11 matches for Gujarat Titans. Assuming KL Rahul opens with Jaiswal, there is a good chance Sudharsan slots in at No. 3, a position he has played in Indo, although due to his top-form in IPL, maybe he is trending towards the middle order for the T20I side. Shubman Gill, who has averaged over 37 at No. 3 since 2023, might move to No. 4 to replace Kohi, and that leaves No. 5 up for grabs for Shreyas Iyer and Karun Nair.

 

Shreyas Iyer or Karun Nair?

 

Karun Nair has not played a Test match since 2017, but his red-ball numbers warrant a closer look. He scored 863 runs in 9 innings in the 2024–25 Ranji season at 53.15, including three hundred and two fifty. The year before, he scored 690 runs at 40.58. Then, he naturally added 779 runs in the 2024 Vijay Hazare Trophy—he has also clearly got back on track again.

 

Nair had an unremarkable IPL 2025 season, but his red-ball form is not forgettable. The selectors will probably also remember his 303* against England, showing he can handle the big stage.

 

In a somewhat similar situation, Shreyas Iyer’s comeback opportunity may come right at a time when Kohli is on a break. After struggling in the Duleep Trophy with an average of just 25.66, he scored 480 runs in 5 innings at 68.50, with two hundreds, in the Ranji Trophy. He has strong first-class numbers, 6,363 runs in 81 matches at 48.57, including 15 hundreds. Thus, if India is looking for an in-form middle-order batter, he stands in good stead.

 

While India’s fast-bowling attack will likely be based on Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in particular given that they have both had a good run with the ball in the most recent series, workload management will likely be a factor for Bumrah going forward, given he took 32 wickets in 5 Tests in the BGT 2023/24 series. 

 

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Shami comes back in as well after injury and although Shami has been unavailable, they should have options like Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and potentially Thakur (who was also under consideration after his Ranji Trophy campaign consisting of 505 runs and 35 wickets, where he outran seasoned players such as Ajinkya Rahane and Ayush Badoni respectively). In the IPL 2025 where he played nine matches, he took 12 wickets while in the Test series (in England) he took 30 wickets and also posted three fifties.

 

Thakur is yet another middle-order batter who also provides an option for the lower order batting, while also being able to tap into some experience (albeit very limited) of playing under English conditions and they seem to be entering a transition in Indian Test cricket.

 

England vs India Tests schedule: Test Date Venue

1st Test	20-24 Jun ’25	Leeds
2nd Test	02-06 Jul ’25	Birmingham
3rd Test	10-14 Jul ’25	Lord’s
4th Test	23-27 Jul ’25	Manchester
5th Test	31 Jul – 04 Aug ’25	The Oval

 

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