The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shed light on star batter Virat Kohli‘s sudden decision to retirement from Test cricket. Kohli delivered the shocking news earlier this month, days after India captain Rohit Sharma also announced his Test retirement. On Saturday, chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, addressed a press conference before announcing India’s squad for the upcoming Test tour of England. During the presser, Agarkar revealed that Kohli reached out to the BCCI in early April, having already made up his mind to retire from the format.
“Virat reached out early April & said he had made up his mind (to retire from Test cricket),” Agarkar said during the press conference.
Shubman Gill was on Saturday appointed India’s new Test captain while Rishabh Pant was named his deputy.
The selectors decision on the team’s leadership was on expected lines following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Young left-hander B Sai Sudharsan earned his maiden Test call-up.
The squad also features Karun Nair, who returns to the national set up up after seven years. A notable exclusion was pacer Mohammed Shami, who was deemed not fit enough for the long series.
“Last year or so we have looked at Shubman (for leadership). We are hopeful he is the guy who is going (to take the team forward). It is a high pressure job but he is a terrific player. We wish him all the best,” said chief selector Ajit Agarkar after announcing the squad.
On Shami, he added: “His workload is not where it needs to be. We were hoping he will be available but it is unfortunate. At the moment he is not dully fit. From tour of Australia, Harshit Rana and Sarfaraz Khan have been dropped.
India Squad: Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Redddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhurv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav.
(With PTI Inputs)
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