By S. Obeyesekere
All the rich coloring decorative ingredients of the stellar type does hype up India’s newly anointed young big gun to the throne.
Steeped in the formative fire of the young daring order of Indian cricket rearing to go, young 25-year old Shubman Gill arrives to pick up the big mantle of a gaping vacuum left behind by two of its greatest of cricketers of modern day cricket.
Gone like a flash of lightning from the test equation is their all-time great talisman Virat Kohli and longtime captain Rohit Sharma.
Stepping into India’s torn test cricket battle ground of disarray following the retirements of superstars Virat Kohli and skipper, Rohit Sharma, the latter by necessity of poor form, and the former, a sledge hammer blow abrupt knee jerk exit for Kohli’s all-time enduring greatness of the man who put Indian test cricket on its feet, is the country’s new ray of great expectations Shubman Gill regarded as its most proficient young talent to take over the mantle of leadership on the strength of 1893 test runs from 32 appearances and 59 innings counting 5 hundreds and a more flattering ODI record as the fastest to 2000 ODI runs in 38 innings and 2500 runs in 50 innings. Adding to that rousing big stage fanning is Gill becoming India’s most celebrated test batsman to holding the record for the youngest cricketer to score a double century at the age of 23 in ODIs.
In retrospect of a jumbled Indian test cricket scenario of Kohli, their greatest talisman gone, and Sharma, renowned for ushering a butchery savage era to its test cricket in the later years of his career thrust from the lower order to opening the batting in upping India’s test fortunes, the 25-year old Gill will face the acid test of his career in his first big fling in the big boots when he leads India on a 5 match tour of England this June.
Indeed, all that big gun blaze of early fame he brings to the front in one huge launch of his cricketing career will come in a sizzling test of strength and character to meeting a mighty challenge by all accounts of the British cricketing armada led by no less a warrior than the tried and tested and proven Ben Stokes. The best example of the sterling player is that down memory lane match winning century in taking England out of near defeat to an epic triumph from a tie to a dramatic super over triumph of the inaugural ICC Test Championship final versus New Zealand.
First timers Sai Sudarshan, and Arshdeep Singh and Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur making comebacks for the five-match series in England that starts on June 20 is new testing ground of that new Indian order after the likes of Kohli snd Sharma in the main.
Walking into an expectant flame of fire of a strong England outfit led by Stokes, India’s new chosen one, Shubman Gill carries a pre match hype of great interest at the helm of a newness of Indian test cricket following the exits of stalwarts Kohli, Sharma and not long before them spin bowling sensation Ravichandran Ashwin during the acrimonious tour of Australia that signalled the ensuing dismantling of that old order refined by the talisman Kohli.
The series is certainly a build up of a never before hype with the focus on an altogether new Indian order to the fore in Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran in addition to Gill, Pant, Sudharsan and Nair as to how well they would flaunt their talked of talents in the big stage test of their lives in tough English terrain. That the regular medium pacer Mohanmed Shami too from that old guard is a non starter by injury is interesting.
The squad has four allrounders (two pace, two spin) in Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
There are five specialist fast bowlers – Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep – with Kuldeep Yadav the only specialist spinner in the 18.
Sarfaraz Khan and Harshit Rana are the only two players who were part of the original Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad to be dropped for the England tour. Tanush Kotian and Devdutt Padikkal, who came in as replacements during India’s tour of Australia, are out too.
The five Tests against England will be India’s first in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle. They play the first Test at Headingley (from June 20), the second at Edgbaston (from July 2), the third at Lord’s (from July 10), the fourth at Old Trafford (from July 23), and the final at The Oval (from July 31).
They begin the tour with a four-day match against India A at Beckenham on the outskirts of London between June 13 and 16.
India Test squad for England
Shubman Gill (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Arshdeep Singh