India A squad for England Tour 2025: Abhimanyu Easwaran named captain, Dhruv Jurel vice-captain

The India ‘A’ squad for the upcoming tour of England was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday.

India ‘A’ will feature in two four-day matches against England Lions, starting on May 30 in Canterbury. The squad will also feature in an ‘intra-squad’ game from June 13 in Beckenham.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has part of the Indian squad for the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, has been named captain of the side, while Dhruv Jurel will be his deputy. Shubman Gill, who is one of the contenders for taking over the captaincy of the Indian Test team from Rohit Sharma, will join the ‘A’ squad ahead of the second game, along with Gujarat Titans teammate Sai Sudharsan.

The squad also features Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep, Sarfaraz Khan, Harshit Rana and Tanush Kotian—members of the squad that toured Australia during India’s last Test assignment.

Kotian was called up for the fourth and fifth Tests of that series after R. Ashwin announced his shock retirement, and is being looked at as a potential replacement for the legendary off-spinner.

The squad also includes players who are coming off a strong showing on the domestic circuit. Karun Nair, who was part of the Vidarbha side that clinched the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy title, has received a call-up after last representing India in Tests in 2017.

His Vidarbha teammate, Harsh Dubey, who broke the record for most wickets in a single Ranji Trophy season, has also been rewarded with a spot.

The India ‘A’ series will be followed by a five-match Test series between India and England, starting June 20 at Headingley. The series will kickstart the 2025-27 cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) for India.

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