Shubman Gill has been named the new Test skipper as India embark on a new WTC cycle with the tour of England next month.

India’s Test captaincy post was vacant after Rohit Sharma’s sudden retirement from the longest format earlier this month.

Even though Jasprit Bumrah had led India in a couple of Test matches in Rohit’s absence during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25, the selectors put their faith on Gill for the leadership role.

While the legendary India spinner Anil Kumble wanted Bumrah to be appointed as Test captain, now that Gill has been given the responsibility, the youngster has to prove his worth as a potent overseas batter.

“It’s going to be a massive challenge. Initially, I thought Jasprit Bumrah would have been the automatic choice, but they must have a reason there. They would have probably spoken to him and maybe Jasprit is now looking at taking a break between matches," Kumble said while speaking on ESPNCricinfo.

“Now that the selectors have taken a call on Shubman, they’ll have to stick with him for a while. Because he needs that kind of leeway as well. First, he has to establish himself as a batter because even in Australia, he didn’t play all the matches," Kumble added.

While Gill has led India in T20Is, he is yet to captain the ODI and Test teams. He led Punjab in one Ranji Trophy match earlier this year and has the experience of captaining in four more first-class matches.

“As a captain, he has certainly shown signs. Of course, it’s a very different format. He has a calm head. He’s done all the right things for GT in the last couple of seasons as a captain," Kumble said.

“So as a player, it hasn’t really affected him, at least in the white-ball formats. And to expect that to happen in Tests as well, there won’t be any issues with his batting just because he is captain," Kumble remarked.

The five-Test series between India and England is slated to get underway on June 20 at Headingley, followed by matches at Lord's (June 28), Trent Bridge (July 6), The Oval (July 14), and Old Trafford (July 24).

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