New reports shed light on BCCI's plan for India Tour of England

With the halfway mark long past, IPL 2025 is swiftly approaching its conclusion. Following the T20 cricket action, a lengthy assignment awaits the Indian contingent. Team India will kick-start the new WTC cycle with the India Tour of England. The England series consists of 5 Tests, scheduled from June 20 to August 4. The last WTC cycle wrapped up unceremoniously for Team India. Since the inception of the ICC event, it was the first time India missed out on qualifying for the WTC Final. A horrid run at home followed by a 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy down under saw India falling out of contention. The phase brought unrestrained scrutiny for senior Indian players, with the captaincy of Rohit Sharma falling into question.

Rohit Sharma likely to retain his Test Captaincy in the India Tour of England: Reports

India's disappointing run in red-ball cricket was followed by the team’s historic victory at the ICC Champions Trophy. The Men in Blue picked up a second ICC title in white-ball cricket in consecutive events, winning the Champions Trophy in Dubai after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, the white-ball tournament helped players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma earn their credits back after facing criticism for the Test failure. Now, as the focus rests on IPL 2025 for the time being, BCCI has reportedly set its plans for the India Tour of England into action.

The India tour of England is set to begin with a series of warm-up matches featuring the India A side, followed by a five-Test series against England. As per a recent report, the BCCI has drawn up a provisional pool of 35 players, divided between the India A and senior Test squads. The final squad, curated by Ajit Agarkar and his selection panel, is expected to be announced by mid-May.

One of the major talking points ahead of the selection is the inclusion of Rohit Sharma. Despite a poor run with the bat between September 2024 and January 2025, where he averaged just 10.93 across 13 innings with a lone half-century, Rohit is being considered for both squads. His struggles in Australia, where he managed only 31 runs in five innings, had sparked questions over his Test future. Still, the selectors reportedly want to give the 37-year-old another shot, especially as captain for a high-stakes tour.

"Rohit is most likely to travel as the board feels that one needs a strong captain through the series, which is likely to be as tough as the Australia tour," a BCCI source told in the report.

Among the domestic performers, Karun Nair is being considered primarily. After an outstanding Ranji Trophy season with 863 runs at an average of 53.94, including four centuries, Nair was instrumental in guiding Vidarbha to their third title. However, his place in the middle order isn’t guaranteed, with Rajat Patidar also in contention. Patidar, who has captained Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2025, may be tested alongside Nair during the India A matches scheduled to begin shortly after the IPL concludes on May 25.

"With regard to the middle-order, the team management has shown very little confidence in Sarfaraz Khan's ability. Nair and Patidar are seasoned red-ball players and are in fine form. It is likely at least one of them will be in the India 'A' team," the source added. "As for Iyer, he was dropped last year based on his poor returns in Test cricket. A final call is yet to be taken," the BCCI source said.

Rajat Patidar featured in three Tests last year but scored only 63 runs before being dropped. However, he had a solid domestic season with Madhya Pradesh, including a quick-fire century in just 68 balls as part of his 529-run haul. The report also notes some key selection calls. Sai Sudharsan is likely to be picked as the third-choice opener, while Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel are expected to miss out. With Ravichandran Ashwin retiring earlier this year during the Australia series, Kuldeep Yadav is being lined up as his replacement in the spin department.