Captain Rohit Sharma Shortlists 35 Players For India 'A' And Test Team Ahead Of India's Tour Of England In June: Reports

India will be travelling to England in June for the upcoming test series against England. The five match test series will be played under the new World Test Championship cycle of 2025-27. India being one of the best test sides in the world were all set to make to the finals which will be played at the Lords Cricket Ground in June but missed out as they lost back to back test series against New Zealand and Australia. Now as the new test cycle is almost here, according to reports, the Indian Cricket Team is busy in preparation for the cycle. 

Rohit Sharma Assembles 35-Man List Ahead Of England Series 

Ahead of India's tour of England, Rohit Sharma has assembled a 35-player list for the BCCI out of which players will be divided amongst India ‘A’ and the main test team. This comes in according to a report by The Times Of India. According to the reports, it seems that BCCI will be continuing with Rohit Sharma despite months of speculations that the Indian captain will be losing his spot in the team after the series losses against New Zealand and Australia. Rohit Sharma's form in red ball cricket has also come into question. 

According to the reports, the selectors will pick the team in the second week of May with Rajat Patidar and Karun Nair's name in contention for a spot. The two batters are being looked at to boost India's middle order which has been a cause of concern for a while. 

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BCCI And Management Have Not Shown Confidence In Sarfaraz Khan: Sources 

According to a source from the BCCI, the management do not have confidence in Sarfaraz Khan and his abilities while batting in the middle order. Thus the management is looking at Rajat Patidar and Karun Nair to get into the No.5-6 spot. 

“Rohit is most likely to travel as the board feels that one needs a strong captain through the series, which is likely to be as tough as the Australia tour. With regard to the middle-order, the team management has shown very little confidence in Sarfaraz Khan’s ability. Nair and Patidar are seasoned red-ball players and are in fine form. It is likely at least one of them will be in the India ‘A’ team. As for Iyer, he was dropped last year based on his poor returns in Test cricket. A final call is yet to be be taken,” the source from the BCCI said according to the report by TOI. 

India's series in England will kick off on 20th June 2025 and will go on till 31st July 2025.  

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