Mohammed Shami Excluded from India's Test Squad for England Series

India's Test Squad Announced for England Series

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 24: After the Indian team was announced for the upcoming Test series against England, Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), explained why fast bowler Mohammed Shami was not included in the squad.

Shubman Gill has been named the new captain for the Test side, with Rishabh Pant stepping in as vice-captain. The BCCI revealed the squad for the eagerly awaited five-match Test series against England on Saturday.

In the bowling lineup, Jasprit Bumrah will lead the pace attack on English soil, supported by Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, and Shardul Thakur.

During a press conference, Agarkar addressed Shami's absence, stating, “The medical team has informed us that he is unavailable for this series. He has been working hard to regain fitness, but unfortunately, he faced a setback last week and underwent some MRIs. It seems unlikely he could participate in all five Tests. We were optimistic about his availability for at least part of the series, but given his current condition, it’s challenging to wait. It’s unfortunate as we value a bowler of his caliber.”

Shami has been sidelined from competitive cricket for over a year due to an ankle injury. Although he successfully recovered from surgery in February 2024, he has since experienced pain in his right knee and has been undergoing treatment.

He made his return to domestic cricket last year, playing in the Ranji Trophy for Bengal, where he had a successful outing, taking seven wickets against Madhya Pradesh. There were speculations about his comeback during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, but he did not feature in that series.

At 34, Shami has been a key bowler for India across formats, contributing to the team's title-winning Champions Trophy campaign earlier this year, where he finished as one of the top wicket-takers.

In his Test career, Shami has played 64 matches, claiming 229 wickets at an impressive average of 27.1, including six five-wicket hauls. In the IPL 2025 season, he took six wickets at an average of 56.16 and an economy rate of 11.23 over 13 group-stage matches. If the selectors decide against including him, there are other potential candidates available.

The Indian cricket team is scheduled to tour England in 2025 for a five-match Test series, which is part of the 2025-2027 ICC World Test Championship.

This series will occur from June to August 2025, with matches set to take place at Headingley (Leeds), Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord's (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), and The Oval (London).

This will mark India's first bilateral series following the recent retirements of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from Test cricket earlier this month.

India's Test squad for the England series includes: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav.