Both batsmen Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal will have extra time to prepare for the Test series against England as he is named in a strong Indian A team.
Starting from May 30 and June 6, a top-notch match against the England Lions were selected for the Test Opener Jaiswal.
Gill, who replaces Rohit Sharma as one of the main candidates for the test captain, will compete in Northampton’s second match.
Nine of the 20 squads have been capped at the test level, including goalkeeper Dhruv Jurel, all-around Nitish Kumar Reddy and Seamers Akash Deep and Harshit Rana, who all competed in India’s final Test series in Australia.
The party also includes Sarfaraz Khan, who won thirty-year-old in his debut series against England last year, all-around Shardul Thakur, attacking left-handed Ishan Kishan and mid-range batsman Karun Nair.
Nair, who played county cricket for Northamptonshire, scored 303 points against England in 2016 but was dropped after six tests but hoped to be recalled this summer.
It also includes left-handed Sai Sudharsan’s debut after his debut after 509 matches in 11 matches in the Indian Premier League Titans.
The five-test series between England and India begins on June 20 at Headingley and will be visitors without Rohit and Virat Kohli, who have both recently retired from the format.
Gill performed three tests in England – one against England in 2022, plus the finals of the 2021 and 2023 World Test Championship Finals, New Zealand and Australia – and scored only 88 points in 14.66.
Jaiswal averaged 52.88 after his first 19 Tests, including two bicentury matches against England last year, but his only experience in England was the Under-19 White Ball Tour in 2019.
England’s preparation for the competition for the series is a one-time test for Zimbabwe.
An Indian team: Abhimanyu Easwaran (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (Second Captain) (Wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (WK) Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan (2nd match only)
