Shubman Gill had been sounded out by selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar weeks before Rohit Sharma retired from Tests earlier this month.
Sources told The Telegraph that Gill had remained his usual composed self when Agarkar told him in mid-April that he would skipper India during the England tour.
Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir have had several rounds of meetings with Gill since then to discuss his vision for Indian cricket.
It was therefore just a formality when the Board of Control for Cricket in India revealed, in Mumbai on Saturday, that Gill had been picked as India’s 37th Test captain.
Agarkar said the decision had been taken after watching Gill’s “progress in the last year or two”.
Rishabh Pant will be Gill’s deputy on the five-Test tour. Bengal’s Abhimanyu Easwaran has made it to the 18-member squad but fitness issues have kept Mohammed Shami out.
“You don’t pick captains for one or two tours. You want to invest in something that will help us going forward. You are hoping it’s the right call,” Agarkar said.
“We’ve seen some progress in the last year or two. There’s no doubt that it is going to be as tough as it gets in a five-match series in England. Maybe Shubman will have to learn on the job a little bit. But we are very confident with what he has to offer and that’s the reason we have picked him,” Agarkar added.
Jasprit Bumrah — who was vice-captain during India’s last Test series, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, and led in two of the five matches — has missed out because of fitness and workload management issues.
“Obviously, you discuss every option that’s there. Over the last year or so, we have looked at Shubman at various times. Even when we played England last year. You take a lot of feedback from the dressing room as well,” Agarkar said.
“Obviously, he’s very young. We’ve seen the improvement... I know it’s T20 cricket for Gujarat Titans, but we take feedback from a lot of people. It’s obviously going to be, like it always is, a high-pressure job. But we’re hopeful we’ve picked the right guy. He’s a terrific player and our best wishes for him.”
The England Tests will be India’s first during the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle. The first match starts at Headingley on June 20.
Gill’s only experience of leading the national side came in a T20I series in Zimbabwe, when India were missing several first-choice players.India bounced back after losing the first match to win the series 4-1.
At 25 years and 258 days, Gill is the fifth-youngest to lead India in Tests after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (21 years, 77 days), Sachin Tendulkar (23 years, 169 days), Kapil Dev (24 years, 48 days) and Ravi Shastri (25 years, 229 days).
Agarkar acknowledged that a young batting unit would face a herculean task in England in the absence of Rohit and Virat Kohli. “It’s a massive transition with Rohit and Virat not being around. It’s a new cycle; experience can only help. It is going to be tough,” he said.
Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan have earned a call-up thanks to their exploits in the domestic season. A triple centurion against England in Chennai in 2016, Nair last played a Test in 2017.
Easwaran — who had replaced Mayank Agarwal during the 2021 tour of England but remained a reserve opener — and Sudharsan will be in contention for the top-order slots. But it’s almost certain that KL Rahul will open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The selectors have sent out a strong message that there will be no room for non-performers. This is best exemplified in the axing of Mohammed Shami: the BCCI’smedical team found the fast bowler way behind the desired fitness levels.
“Shami’s had a little bit of setback... He has got some MRIs done... his workload at the moment isn’t where it should be,” Agarkar said.
Arshdeep Singh has earned his maiden call-up to the Test side, as this newspaper suggested he would earlier this week.
