BCCI announces India A squad for England tour; Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair return on back of impressive domestic season

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

The India ‘A’ team will play three matches before the senior India team plays the first Test against England, which is scheduled to begin on June 20 at Leeds.

The India ‘A’ team will play two matches against the England Lions before playing an intra-squad match, which will comprise the senior team members.

India A will play England Lions at Canterbury and Northampton before moving to Beckenham for the intra squad game.

India A fixtures

Match Date & Time (IST) Venue 1st First-Class match May 30 - June 2 at 2:30 PM Canterbury 2nd First-Class match June 6 - 9 at 2: 30 PM Northampton Intra Squad match June 13 - 16 at 2:30 PM Beckenham

The three games will be closely watched by team India's thinktank as there are many key spots in the team that need filling.

Stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma recently retired from the Test team, which opens up at least two spots in the top order.

Karun Nair back Abhimanyu Easwaran, who captains the India ‘A’ squad, will be eager to put on a good show as he is in contention to make his debut for the national side.

He has been a top performer in the domestic circuit and stands a good chance to bag a place, especially with Rohit Sharma out of the picture.

Another India hopeful who will be looking to bag a place, albeit in the form of a return, will be Karun Nair.

The Delhi Capitals batter had a fabulous Ranji Trophy season where he scored 863 runs at an average of 53.93 for the eventual winners, Vidarbha.

That could be soon as the veteran batter makes his return to the national set-up after a gap of eight years. Nair could potentially take the vacant number 4 spot, which was Kohli's for well over a decade.

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The stylish right handed batter is only one of two Indians, after Virender Sehwag, to hit a triple century in Test cricket. He scored an unbeaten 303 in 2016 against England, at Chennai's MA Chidambaram stadium.

He has played only six Test matches for India, the last of which came in March 2017 against Australia in Dharamshala.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan will join the squad ahead of the second match in Northampton. The Gujarat Titans duo will likely play towards the end of the Indian Premier League season, which ends June 3, as their team is in prime position to make it to the playoffs.

India A squad changes The ‘A’ squad that will play in England has seen a few noticeable changes from the one that went to Australia in late 2024, ahead of the Border Gavaskar trophy.

Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has lost the captaincy to Easwaran, although he has made it to this squad. Gaikwad pulled off from IPL 2025 midway through the season after suffering a fracture to his elbow.

He has been declared fit for next month's England expedition.

This has seen Easwaran ascend to the captaincy, who will be eager to make it to the senior squad as an opener.

Dhruv Jurel too has seen an uptick in his stock as the Rajasthan Royals batter is now the vice captain of the ‘A’ squad.

Shardul Thakur is another returnee to the national fold. The fast-bowling all-rounder played in India's tour of England in 2022 and last played a Test match for the senior team in South Africa, in December 2023.

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