Why Shami Was Dropped for England Tour: Here's What Agarkar Said
24 May 2025 4:03 PM IST24 May 2025 4:03 PM IST
A notable exclusion from Indian squad for England Tests was pacer Mohammed Shami, who was deemed not fit enough for the long series.
Mohammed Shami (AP File Photo)
On Saturday, Team India selectors went ahead announcing the Test squad for the upcoming England tour without ace pacer Mohammed Shami, who was deemed not fit enough for the long series.
Chief selector Agarkar raised fitness concerns as the reason behind leaving Shami.
"He's had a little bit of a setback over the last week or so," Agarkar said, adding medical scans had ruled Shami out for the series.
"His workload is not where it needs to be. We were hoping he will be available but it is unfortunate. At the moment he is not fully fit."
However, what didn't come as a surprise for many was naming batting star Shubman Gill as India's Test captain to steer through a "massive transition" phase with the swashbuckling Rishabh Pant as his deputy for next month's tour of England that is expected to be nothing short of a trial by fire.
The squad also features Karun Nair, who returns to the national set-up after eight years. Having last played in 2017, Nair was dropped from the team soon after becoming the second triple centurion in Tests from India.
From the tour of Australia, Harshit Rana and Sarfaraz Khan have been dropped.
India's Squad for Test tour of England:
Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, K L Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun nair, Nitish Redddy, Ravindra Kadeja, Dhurv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep singh and Kuldeep Yadav. PTI BS PM BS
( Source : Deccan Chronicle with agency inputs )
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