The Indian cricket team will begin a new era in Test cricket next month when they take on England from June 20 in a marquee five-match Test series. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar named an 18-man squad while also revealing Shubman Gill as the new captain.

Following the retirements of Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, India are heading for a transition in Test cricket, and the England series will pose a tough challenge with a young squad. The selection of the squad had the eyes of the world with a new-look squad set to be in place.

Agarkar made some bold calls as Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh received maiden test call-ups while Abhimanyu Easwaran retained his place in the squad and could make his debut in England. Karun Nair earned a recall to the national team after a gap of seven years as his stunning domestic season was rewarded.

However, there was some key players that missed out. Here is a look at the best XI of players that failed to make the squad, which does not contain any players who have retired. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane also do not make our best XI of players not part of the main squad as the selectors have made it clear that the team have moved past them.

Ruturaj Gaikwad: Ruturaj Gaikwad earned a maiden call-up to the Indian Test squad two years ago during the Test series against West Indies but is yet to make his debut in the longest format. He captained India 'A' in the shadow tour against Australia. However, he failed to make the main squad for the tour Down Under and is not selected for the England series. Ruturaj will make his comeback from injury against England Lions while playing for India 'A.'

Devdutt Padikkal: Devdutt Padikkal made his Test debut against England at Dharamshala last year and also played the Perth Test against Australia. However, the left-handed batter did not receive a BCCI central contract and has not been picked for either the 'A' squad or the senior team for the England series.

Rajat Patidar: Rajat Patidar was handed a maiden India Test call-up for the England series last year following impressive displays in red-ball cricket for Madhya Pradesh and India 'A.' He played in three matches for India but failed to impress and since then has failed to find a way back in the scheme of things in red-ball cricket despite getting a BCCI central contract.

Shreyas Iyer (C): Shreyas Iyer is among the rare list of Indian players to score a century on Test debut and it was not long ago that the team placed their bet on him to carry the middle order following the decision to drop Rahane and Pujara. However, Shreyas was dropped mid-way through the home series against England after a poor tour of South Africa and has not played test cricket for India ever since, despite his success in white-ball cricket and in the Ranji trophy. If Shreyas was in the scheme of things, he could have been a captaincy contender.

Sarfaraz Khan: Sarfaraz Khan was the most shocking exclusion from the Indian Test squad against England. The 27-year-old was left out of the squad despite not playing a single match in Australia. He was dropped from the playing XI despite playing all three Test matches against New Zealand and scoring a knock of 150 in the series opener at Bengaluru.

Ishan Kishan (WK): Ishan Kishan has not played any Test cricket for India since his debut series two years ago. However, he is certainly not far away from earning a comeback after regaining his BCCI central contract and being named in the India 'A' squad for both the Australia and England tours.

Axar Patel: Axar Patel has been instrumental to India's T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy success and has a nearly flawless record with both bat and ball in Test cricket. However, he has not played in the whites for India since February 2024 and is yet to play a Test match outside Asia.India once again chose Washington Sundar ahead of him in the squad while the world no.1 all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja retains his spot.

Harshit Rana: Harshit Rana was fast-tracked into the squad for the Australia tour and made his debut in the series opener. The express pacer was dropped from the playing XI for the third Test and now finds himself completely out of the squad.

Mohammed Shami: Mohammed Shami is among India's greatest pacers ever, but missed out on the tour of England, which many expected will mark his comeback to Test cricket after the long injury hiatus, having missed the Australia tour. Despite playing a key role in India's 2025 Champions Trophy victory, Agarkar revealed there are still injury concerns over Shami and they were not confident of him managing the workload of the longest format.

Mukesh Kumar: It was only two years ago that India gave Mukesh Kumar a debut in all three formats, and his impressive first-class record made him the ideal choice for Test cricket. Mukesh also played one Test each in the away and home series against South Africa and England, respectively. However, he is yet to play a Test match since then and despite impressing with India 'A' against Australia 'A' in November, could not earn a recall to the Test squad.

Khaleel Ahmed: In the three-way race between the uncapped (Test cricket) trio of Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, and Yash Dayal, Arshdeep got the nod as India look for a left-arm pacer in their ranks. Khaleel has been named in the India 'A' squad and could soon get a chance in red-ball cricket if he managed to impress on the shadow tour.

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