India announced their squad for the five-match Test series against England, which begins from June 20. This will be a massive series for ndia as they start their campaign in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle. With the absence of recently retired stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India needed a young leadership group. Shubman Gill has been chosen as the new test captain of the side. The new vice-captain will be none other than star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant.

In the press conference where chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained why Pant was the best choice among all to be Gill's deputy. Rishabh Pant is one of the best batters in the Test side, and being the wicketkeeper, he can see the game well from behind the stumps. This is the reason why he was chosen.

“Pant is the vice-captain, one of our best batters – always the keeper can see the game well. That is why he is Gill's deputy – looking at guys who can take the team forward,” Agarkar said.

In the press conference, Ajit Agarkar categorically stated that Shubman Gill was selected as the new Test Captain, looking ahead into the future. In fact, they also took feedback from the dressing room, where players said that he has shown decent leadership qualities over the past year or so.

"You do not select a captain for one or two series, you have to plan for the longer term. We are hopeful that he [Shubman Gill] will learn with time," Agarkar said.

"Shubman Gill is the guy we feel is a three-format player. Has shown a lot more qualities over the last year, that’s what we hear from the dressing room. He has shown some decent leadership qualities. We want to try and give him the experience," he added.

Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Kadeja, Dhurv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav.