Mohammed Shami's absence was the big news as the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar named the squad for the Test series against England which will be led by Shubman Gill, who will replace Rohit Sharma in the top job and become India's 38th Test captain.

After making a successful comeback post almost a year on the sidelines due to injury, Shami was expected to earn a recall to the red-ball side and lead the pace attack alongside Jasprit Bumrah. However, Shami has found a place in the side despite the selectors picking six pacers.

Agarkar opened up on Shami's exclusion and claimed that the star pacer suffered a setback on the fitness front. The chief selector further revealed the medical staff ruled him out and claimed there were concerns over whether he could play five tests and over his workload for the longest format of the game.

"He's had a little bit of a setback over the past week, got some MRIs done. Wasn't going to be able to play five Tests. Don't think his workload is where he needs to be. Medical guys told he'll be ruled out. We were hoping he'll play some part, but if he's not fit, we'd rather pick guys fit and available rather than waiting," said Agarkar in a pre-match press conference.

Shami has not played a Test match for India for two years now as his last appearance in the whites for India was in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Arshdeep Singh has earned a maiden call-up to the Test team in Shami's absence, which also has Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Akash Deep in the ranks.

India Squda for England Test Series: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav