Mumbai, May 24: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee, on Saturday, is set to announce India's squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against England, starting from June 20, in Mumbai, as per a release from BCCI.

A press conference will follow the Selection Meeting. The Indian cricket team is set to tour England in 2025 for a five-match Test series, part of the 2025-2027 ICC World Test Championship.

The series will take place from June to August 2025, with matches at Headingley (Leeds), Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord's (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), and The Oval (London).

This will be India's first bilateral series since both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket earlier this month.

Along with the squad, the BCCI is set to announce the new Test captain of the side.

After Rohit's departure, Shubman Gill is the frontrunner to lead the Indian side in whites, whereas wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is the likely choice as his deputy.

Right-arm seamer Jasprit Bumrah was also considered a potential candidate for the Test captaincy; however, recurring injury concerns in recent times have diminished his prospects. Another name in contention was middle-order batter KL Rahul, but at 33, his age is seen as a limiting factor for a long-term leadership role.

Following Kohli's retirement from the longest format of the game, a couple of budding and solidified figures like Sai Sudarshan, Shreyas Iyer, and Karun Nair are the likely options to replace the former skipper in the middle-order.

Sudarshan has bided his time in India's domestic circuit and has carved out his name as a future all-format prospect, standing out as one of the prominent names to fill the everlasting void left by Virat. The 23-year-old Tamil Nadu batter ran rampant with his sizzling batting display and mustered up 304 runs in three Ranji Trophy matches at 76.00, including a double-hundred, a century and a fifty each. When one dives deeper, Sudharsan has featured in 29 First-Class fixtures, racked up 1,957 runs, averaging nearly 40, glistened with seven centuries and five half-centuries.

The upcoming England tour could be the perfect platform for Shreyas to write the final chapter of his redemption arc and cement his place in India's Test fold. From being out of favour to changing the mind of selectors with his consistent swagger, Shreyas has come a long way in his journey. While he is still a rookie, considering his 14 Tests and 811 runs in international cricket. However, the domestic setup is riddled with his stories of success. While representing Mumbai, in his last Ranji Trophy campaign, Shreyas garnered 480 runs from five matches for Mumbai, averaging 68.57 while striking fiercely at a rate of 90.22.

Karun, who asked for a second chance with a heartfelt tweet in December 2022, made the most of the opportunity while representing Vidarbha domestically. The man who is just the second Indian to blaze his way to a triple hundred exhibited quintessential form, which has pushed a case for his return to the Indian team since his last Test in 2017. He was the fourth-highest run-scorer in last season's Ranji Trophy with a staggering tally of 863 in nine appearances at 53.93.

In the bowling department, right-arm seamer Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the unit on England soil with some fresh faces along with him.

India's seasoned seamer Mohammed Shami is unlikely to board the plane to England for the upcoming five high-stakes Tests.

According to ESPNcricinfo, a member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical staff travelled to Lucknow this week to assess Shami's fitness level before Hyderabad's fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday.

It hasn't been confirmed if the selectors have made up their minds about giving up on Shami for the series. However, it is highly likely that they will play safe and drop Shami unless a favourable report comes from the medical staff.

In the absence of Shami, the possible replacements are Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, and Harshit Rana are likely options for the selection committee for the highly anticipated England series, along with Bumrah.

(ANI)

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