The BCCI has officially announced the announcement of India’s squad for the upcoming Test series in England. As we suspected, Shubham Gill will lead the side and Rishabh Pant will serve as vice-captain. With the loss of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, whose retirements have now been confirmed, both players will definitely be missed. Rohit has been India’s opener since 2019 and Kohli has been the number four since 2013. Their replacements will have big shoes to fill. It won’t be easy to win without them. India is looking to turn it around after losing 2 consecutive Test series, and now they’re looking to avoid a third. India, has not won a Test series in Engalnd since 2007. While the last series was drawn, India has won just 2 out of the last 15 matches across the last three tours. Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir will want to buy into that momentum from the last tour when India was up 2-1 when the series was abandoned. During their tour in Australia, India took the early lead in the first Test match in Perth. India did not win the series, but they drew close. England does not seem as imposing as Australia. There will be one Test match at Leeds and India should win it. There is also currently a County Championship game at Leeds. There are 14 wickets declared in 105 overs in a Yorkshire vs Nottinghamshire game, all of which are pace bowled. The pitch is supposed to stop seaming in a month, but pacers will retain a hold on it. Therefore, India may only have one spinner and four seamers in its playing XI. Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair, only new additions: Yashasvi Jaiswal should be an opener and KL Rahul will probably replace Rohit as the second opener. Sai Sudharsan will bat number three, and Gill will take Koehli's place at number four. The four will be the top order, although it is permitted for their order to be altered somewhat. Alright, sliding in at number five, Karun Nair just makes sense. The guy’s been around English pitches before with Northamptonshire, so he won’t be staring at the clouds wondering what’s happening. Washington Sundar? Nitish Reddy? Nah, feels like rolling the dice with no money left in your pocket. Way too risky for this position, and honestly, can’t see the selectors pulling that move. Now, Pant and Jadeja at six and seven? No-brainers. Both have already shown they can handle England, and they bring some actual stability to that middle order rare stuff, honestly. No place for Nitish Kumar Reddy: About Nitish Reddy... Yeah, he was slotted in at eight down under but let’s not kid ourselves, he barely rolled his arm over—44 overs in five games? C’mon. Sure, he chipped in with the bat when things were falling apart, but, let’s face it, Tests are won by bowlers. If he’s only gonna bowl a handful of overs each innings, he’s not the answer for English conditions. Not even close. So, looks like Shardul Thakur’s gonna slide in at number eight. Dude was killing it in the back end of the Ranji Trophy—honestly, one of the few bright spots. And let’s be real, his swing? Built for English pitches. Plus, the guy’s got three outta four Test fifties in England. Not a fluke. As for the pacers Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep, yeah, probably watching from the sidelines. Bumrah? Automatic. Siraj’s been solid in England before, so he’s in. And Prasidh Krishna? The guy’s got that raw pace and bounce—showed it off in Australia, so can’t really ignore that. India’s Predicted XI for 1st England Test: Yashasvi JaiswalKL RahulSai SudharsanShubman Gill (c)Karun NairRishabh Pant (wk & vc)Ravindra JadejaShardul ThakurJasprit BumrahPrasidh KrishnaMohammed Siraj Bench: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav