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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: According to a statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the selection committee will choose India’s team for the next five-match Test series against England, which begins today in Mumbai on June 20.

The Selection Meeting will be followed by a press conference. In 2025, the Indian cricket team will go to England for a five-match Test series as part of the ICC World Test Championship for 2025–2027.

Headingley (Leeds), Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord’s (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), and The Oval (London) will host games during the June–August 2025 series.

Since Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both declared their retirement from Test cricket earlier this month, this will be India’s first bilateral series.

The BCCI is scheduled to reveal the team’s new Test skipper in addition to the squad.

Shubman Gill is the front-runner to captain the Indian team in whites after Rohit’s exit, with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant most likely to be his deputy.

Right-arm seamer Jasprit Bumrah was also thought to be a contender for the Test leadership, but his chances have recently been hampered by a string of injury issues. Middle-order batsman KL Rahul was another candidate that was in the running, but at 33, his age is seen to be a barrier to a long-term leadership position.

Sai Sudarshan, Shreyas Iyer, and Karun Nair are a few young and established players who are expected to take Kohli’s spot in the middle order if he retires from the game’s longest format.

As one of the well-known candidates to replace Virat’s enduring hole, Sudarshan has waited his time on India’s domestic circuit and established himself as a potential all-format prospect. With his explosive batting performance, the 23-year-old Tamil Nadu batsman amassed 304 runs at 76.00 in three Ranji Trophy matches, including a century, a fifty, and a double-hundred apiece. A closer look reveals that Sudharsan has played in 29 First-Class matches, amassed 1,957 runs at an average of over 40, and glistened with seven hundreds and five half-centuries.

Shreyas may have the ideal opportunity to write the last chapter of his redemption story and solidify his spot in the Indian Test team during the next England trip. In his path, Shreyas has gone from being unpopular to influencing selectors with his constant swagger. Considering his 14 Test matches and 811 runs in international cricket, he is still a youngster. Nevertheless, his success stories abound in the domestic setup. Shreyas scored 480 runs from five games during his last Ranji Trophy season while playing for Mumbai. He averaged 68.57 and hit hard at a rate of 90.22.

Karun took full use of the opportunity when representing Vidarbha domestically, after pleading for another chance in a poignant tweet in December 2022. Since his last Test in 2017, the man who is just the second Indian to burn his way to a triple hundred has shown classic form, which has made the case for his comeback to the Indian squad. With an incredible total of 863 runs in nine matches at 53.93, he finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy last season.

On English soil, right-arm seamer Jasprit Bumrah will be captaining the bowling unit, accompanied by a few new players.

Mohammed Shami, an experienced seamer for India, is not expected to go to England for the five crucial Test matches that are coming up.

Before Hyderabad’s match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday, a member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team traveled to Lucknow this week to evaluate Shami’s level of fitness, according to ESPNcricinfo.

Whether the selectors have decided to pass on Shami for the series has not been revealed. But unless the medical staff gives a positive report, they will probably play it cautious and bench Shami.

The selection committee for the eagerly awaited England series is expected to consider the following candidates in Shami’s absence: Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, and Harshit Rana, in addition to Bumrah.