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England vs India: 3 players missing from the India Test squad
Team India is getting ready for a massive challenge up on their sleeves as they will be facing England in a five-match Test series. It will definitely be a stern Test for both the Indian batters and bowlers to counter the English conditions especially in this early part of the summers. The Ajit Agarkar-led national selection committee recently announced a 14-member India Test squad for the five Test matches in England. In the absence of two stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, a lot of responsibility comes on the shoulders of the newly appointed India captain Shubman Gill. However, in this blog post, we will discuss about the top three Indian players who have not been picked for the upcoming India vs England Test series.
Top 3 Indian players who have not been picked for the India vs England Test series
1. Shreyas Iyer
Things have worked out in a perfect manner for Shreyas Iyer in the last few months as he recently became the first captain to lead three different teams into the IPL finals (Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders). He was also part of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy-winning Indian team where he finished as the leading run-getter for his side. After performing really well in the domestic circuit across the three formats and Champions Trophy 2025, Iyer was included in BCCI's Central Contract List 2024-25. However, the only thing which did not worked in his favour is that he was excluded from 14-man Indian squad for the England vs India Test series.
While talking about Shreyas Iyer stats in Test cricket, the right-handed middle-order batter has notched up a total of 811 runs from as many as 14 matches at an average of 36.86 that includes five half-centuries and one hundred. Moreover, the 30-year-old smashed a wonderful hundred on his Test debut in 2021 against New Zealand at home. However, the national selectors have picked the likes of Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan ahead of Iyer in the India tour of England 2025.
2. Sarfaraz Khan
Incidentally, Sarfaraz Khan had a lovely start to his Test career as he scored an excellent half-century against England at home. The swashbuckling right-hander smashed a staggering 150-run innings against New Zealand in 2024, but after that knock, he struggled big time during the next two Test matches. He did not got a single game in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. In his short Test career, Sarfaraz has notched up an impressive tally of 371 runs from as many as 6 Test matches at an average of nearly 40 that consists of 3 fifties and 1 century. More importantly, Sarfaraz Khan silenced his critics recently in a remarkable manner having scored a wonderful hundred in the first unofficial Test match against England Lions. Interestingly, he has also worked a lot on his physical fitness having lost around 10kg of weight.
3. Harshit Rana
Right-arm speedster Harshit Rana had an amazing Test debut against Australia during the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 having picked as many as three crucial wickets including the prized scalp of Travis Head. However, other than those three wickets in a Test match, the fast bowler failed to leave much of impact in that series in Australia. Overall, he played just a couple of Test matches Down Under having taken a total of four wickets at an average of 50.75. Clearly, the selectors are not very impressed with his performance and thus, they have selected the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Shardul Thakur in the pace bowling attack for the IND vs ENG five-match Test series.