India will tour England for five Test matches next month.
Following the Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli earlier this month, the onus will be on KL Rahul to provide much-needed experience in the batting department.
While Rahul acknowledged the collective failure in India’s previous losses, he remains confident about the team’s strong comeback. He termed the England series as the beginning of a new era for India’s Test team.
"I think looking back at the last couple of Test series, we definitely should have batted better. Losing three Test matches at home, in conditions that we know well—and where we've rarely, if ever, lost a series in recent times—is disappointing," Rahul said in an interview with former England captain Nasser Hussain for Sky Sports Cricket.
"I think the main reason was our batting. New Zealand found a way to keep us quiet. They didn’t give us easy boundaries, and we’re a team that enjoys hitting boundaries and putting pressure on bowlers...That pressure built up, and we ended up playing some poor shots," he added.
"I think we carried that habit of not being able to win crucial moments into the Australia series. We made some of the same mistakes again. Yes, Australia is a tough place to play, but we had won the last two series there. We went in with confidence, having held the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for nearly a decade. The conditions weren’t new to us—we knew what to expect. But somehow, as a team, we just didn’t perform well enough. Collectively, we fell short and ended up on the wrong side of things," he further stated.
Rahul also emphasized the entire team’s collective love for Test cricket. "I love red-ball cricket. You can’t take that away from me, or anyone who’s been part of that Indian team. Everyone I’ve spoken to in that squad feels the same. Red ball cricket is number one for us. We love playing Test cricket, and that hasn’t changed for me," he said.
"I grew up watching Test cricket. I used to wake up at 5 in the morning to watch matches in Australia with my father—he loved the game too. There’s just something pure about Test cricket. It’s always stuck with me, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change," he remarked.
On Saturday (May 24), BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced India’s squad for the upcoming five-Test series against England.
Shubman Gill has been handed the Test captaincy as India embark on a new WTC cycle, with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant being named his deputy.
Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal are likely to open the innings in England, but hot on their heels will be Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been picked as a reserve opener. Young batter Sai Sudharsan has received his maiden Test call-up.
Karun Nair returned to the Test fold after seven years on the back of his stunning exploits in domestic first-class cricket, while Dhruv Jurel retained his place in the side as a reserve wicketkeeper-batter.
Following the retirement of another stalwart, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja will lead India’s spin attack in England. Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav feature in the squad as other spin options.
As far as the pace department is concerned, the selectors have picked five fast bowling options, which will be spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah.
Interestingly, senior pacer Mohammad Shami failed to make the cut while Mohammed Siraj was retained in the squad. Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh earned his maiden call-up to the Test side while Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep were also kept in the mix.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur feature in the squad as seam-bowling all-rounders.
India Squad for England Tests: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.