Why Gikwad and why Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh? Problems with India ‘a’ squad for a tour of England

Under the leadership of Abhimanyu Ishwaran, the India ‘Ek’ squad will have an important tour for England starting from May 30. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the ‘squad’ to India on Friday (May 16), which was mostly on the expected lines, with some suspicious decisions. To see Shardul Thakur and Karun Nair’s choice, it was real to see that after their magnificent domestic performance got a worthy opportunity.

From the previous squad, Abhishek missed the choice of Poral, Ricky Bhui, Yash Dayal, Baba Indrajith and Navdeep Saini. Devdutt Padikkal, who was chosen, was ignored due to his recent injury. Saying that, the BCCI has made some debate calls, especially by ignoring Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh. Let’s discuss more about them below.

Why not Shreyas Iyer?

Given that both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill have been selected for the ‘A’ tour, the BCCI made the correct call in allowing its test to feature on a regular tour. The same should have been the same for Shreyas Iyer, which have been completely ignored. While the reports said earlier, this is not an ideal decision.

Iyer has been a revelation for India for some time. He had last exiting the Central Contract of BCCI after a miraculous ODI World Cup 2023. Iyer made a spectacular comeback in 2024 after winning the IPL as a leader for KKR in 2024. He followed it with an extraordinary domestic campaign.

He scored 480 runs at 68.5, which included a double hundred and 325 runs in an outstanding SR of 131.58 in the Ranji Trophy and was rejected only once in Vijay Hazare. Iyer looks sensational, the Champions Trophy and IPL continue in 2025.

His great form could be used by the BCCI, which would need to complete the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Great to be chosen Nair, but Iyer should also have been given a chance.

Arshdeep Singh was a necessary

Meanwhile, another Punjab Kings (PBK) player who was an excellent option is Arshdeep Singh. The left-armor can be a deception code in European conditions, as he likes to get red cherry swing and seam. He was ignored in Australia, a game was not played in the Champions Trophy and is now ignored again. Despite his experience of playing county cricket, Arshdeep is not nominated in the ‘A’ squad, Khalil Ahmed liked him. Even Tushar Deshpande was not needed.

Ruturaj Gikwad was not needed

Ruturaj Gikwad proved to be lucky. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain is nursing on a elbow injury that excluded him from IPL 2025 in the beginning of the season. Therefore, he was not in conversation and it has come as a surprise that BCCI has included him.

In addition, the team has several top-order options, with the case of Gaikwad even more suspicious. There are Captain Ishvaran, which will open with Yashsvi Jaiswal. Since the second game, Gill will join and reforms, which will not leave any place for Gaikwad. In addition, his domestic performance was not groundbreaking like others. Despite playing just three Ranji Trophy games, he scored 330 runs, including just one hundred in six innings.

India is a squad for England Tour

Batsmen,
Abhimanyu Ishwaran (C), Yashsvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurael (VK) (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Ruturaj Gikwad, Sarfaraz Khan

All rounder,
Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Harsh Dubey

Bowler:
Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khalil Ahmed, Tushar Deshpande
Comment, Shubman Gill And Sai Sudhrasan Will join the squad before the second match.

Funny Sub-Capanesey Options?

While the veteran is the leader of the Ezavaran Pack, his deputy is Dhruv Jurael this time – still a surprising step. Jurael is actually a test regular, but only when Rishabh Pant does not play. A much more intelligent option could have been Yashsvi Jaiswal, which could be benefited from the role.

He is a generational talent and will represent the nation for the coming decades. With Shubman Gill, Jaiswal will be face and therefore BCCI should not give him a chance to give him any kind of leadership.

India tour for England schedule