Ajit Agarkar Prioritizes Experience Over Youth, Feels Karun Nair Will Help Team India To Fill Virat Kohli's Shoes During England Tour

India Tour of England: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday, May 24th, announced Team India's 18-member squad for the forthcoming five-match series against England.

BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar attended a press conference in Mumbai to announce the squad for India's tour of England. It will be the beginning of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-2027 cycle.

ALSO READ: Ajit Agarkar Reveals Reason Behind Mohammed Shami's Snub From Team India's Squad For England Tour: 'I Don't Think He Is Fit Enough'

Team India's Tour of England To Kick Off From June 20th

Team India's first match of the Test series against England is scheduled to play on June 20th at Headingley. Edgbaston will host the second game of the series on July 2nd. The third and fourth Tests will be held at Lord's and Old Trafford, on July 10th and July 23rd, respectively. The fifth and final game of the series will be played at The Oval on July 31st.

Team India have to fill big shoes during the upcoming tour since it will be the series after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's retirement.

ALSO READ: Ajit Agarkar's BIG Reveal On Virat Kohli's Retirement From Test Cricket

Ajit Agarkar Reveals Reason Behind Choosing Karun Nair For England Test Series

While speaking at the press conference, Ajit Agarkar opened up on why the BCCI preferred Karun Nair over Sarfaraz Khan. The BCCI chief selector pointed out Sarfaraz Khan's lack of consistency in Test cricket.

"Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test (against New Zealand) and then didn't get runs. Sometimes these are decisions the team management takes," Ajit Agarkar told reporters at the press conference.

He showered praise on Karun Nair for scoring 'heaps of runs' in the domestic cricket. Agarkar added that following Virat Kohli's retirement, Team India is lacking a bit of experience, and Karun Nair will help to fill it.

"At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic cricket, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we're lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help," he added.

Karun Nair played his last Test match in 2017 against Australia, following that he has not played a single long-format match for the country. However, he has displayed a stupendous performance in the domestic and county cricket.

The 33-year-old has amassed 8211 runs in first-class cricket after appearing in 114 matches and 183 innings at a strike rate of 52.39, and has an average of 49.16.

The top-order batter made his Test debut in 2016 against England. Since then, he has played six Tests, scoring 374 runs at a strike rate of 73.91 and has an average of 62.33.

On the other hand, Sarafaraz Khan played his maiden Test match in 2024 against England. Following that, the 27-year-old has scored 371 runs in 11 Test innings at a strike rate of 74.94 and has an average of 37.10.