India's Test Playing 11 Without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma: Who Will Come In?

India's Test Playing 11 Without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma: Who Will Come In?

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News18.com

Last Updated: May 12, 2025, 19:33 IST

Picking India's playing 11 for first Test against England after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's retirements from Test cricket.

Shubman Gill is likely to captain the team after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's retirements. (PC: AFP, BCCI)

The dreaded transition is upon us. Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and now Virat Kohli have announced their Test retirements within a span of six months.

Three of India’s first-choice, senior-most starters, who meant much more to their team than their batting and bowling stats, will no longer don the Test whites. And the worst part? The first series without all of them would be away to BazzBalling England, a match-up India hasn’t won since 2007.

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There’s a slight possibility that it might work in favor of the visitors. All three of Kohli, Ashwin, and Rohit were struggling for form away from home, and their slowing reflexes might have hurt India’s chances, whereas a younger team under a new leader might be able to put up more of a fight.

The 2020-21 tour of Australia is the perfect example of what can happen when the country just trusts its best youth talent and doesn’t give up. Still, it’ll require a complete team effort from all stakeholders, starting with the selectors and the Gautam Gambhir-led management that picks the playing 11 for the first Test.

Here’s how the team might shape up for Headingley on June 20.

Openers: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul

The tricky picks begin right from the top. Yashasvi Jaiswal is the team’s leading opener and one of the few who are going to retain the same spot as before the retirements. The left-hander had a middling tour of Australia and now, with stability and a bit of seniority, India will expect him to be more consistent in England.

There are several options to partner with him, including Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was the backup opener in India’s tour of Australia. However, Easwaran seemed to have lost the job due to his poor show during the India ‘A’ series against the Aussies before the main show. Unless he performs well when India ‘A’ tours England before the Test series, he wouldn’t likely be seen as much more than a backup opener.

Given how the Test selectors have functioned historically, KL Rahul could be a favorable choice. He has been in form across formats and has been seen as the Swiss-Knife, who can fit in wherever needed. More importantly, he has more experience of batting in England than others in the team with decent numbers to show for it: 614 runs in nine matches at an average of 34.11, with two centuries and a half-century.

Middle-order: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Karun Nair

The middle-order will be completely different from how it was against Australia. Kohli has left a huge gap at number four: the position which was previously held by Sachin Tendulkar and carries more than just numerical value for the team. Some reports suggest that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is likely to go with Shubman Gill for both the batting spot as well as captaincy.

Gill is considered one of the biggest talents in the country, similar to how Kohli and Tendulkar were once seen, and it’s only apt if he takes up the responsibility and tests himself.

He’ll be vacating the number three spot, which can be taken over by his Gujarat Titans (GT) opening partner, Sai Sudharsan. The left-hander has a lot going for him: the 23-year-old has almost 2000 first-class runs to his name at an average of 55.06, has been in brilliant form for GT, is technically solid (maybe even better than Gill), and has experience of playing County cricket in England: 281 runs at 53.52.

Two left-handers and two right-handers in the top four seems perfect for the team. Moreover, Gill is more dynamic and less sound to swing to be at number three, which makes number four better for him.

The number five spot is perhaps the trickiest. Like the second opening position, it has multiple contenders, including Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal. But none of them have been in better first-class form than Karun Nair, who was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy.

Nair has been India’s best domestic batter in the last two years and has made his case stronger by playing in the County Championship too, scoring 736 at 62.64 with one century and four fifties. When India would be desperate to have some experience in their ranks, this can put Nair furthest ahead in the pecking order.

Lower-order: Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja

This part of the playing 11 is unlikely to see any changes, for it was India’s strength in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Rishabh Pant will retain his place in the playing 11 despite the indifferent form of recent months because he’s one of India’s seniors and biggest match-winners with a good record in England. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, also despite his IPL numbers, should slot in at number seven, because his batting contributions were excellent in Australia and his swing bowling would be much more potent in England.

Ravindra Jadeja, like he has been in the past, will likely be India’s lone spinner.

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Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep

It’s surprising that reports have claimed that Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to be the team’s captain. But he’ll still be the team’s lead pacer. His partners are unlikely to be surprising either: Mohammed Siraj has an excellent record in England and would love the conditions, plus, in Mohammed Shami’s likely absence, Akash Deep could be the front-runner for the third-pacer’s spot in favorable conditions.

First Published: May 12, 2025, 19:33 IST

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