India tour of England 2025 updates: Visitors arrive in Leeds for 1st Test, KKR pacer stays back as cover

The Indian men's Test team led by Shubman Gill arrived in Leeds on Tuesday, June 17 for the first Test of the five-match series against England. As per reports, the members of the Indian team, who featured in an intra-squad game in Beckenham, arrived in Leeds by train to prepare for the first Test, which starts in Headingley on June 20.

India have arrived for the long tour with a relatively young squad. Senior batters and former captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket last month. Before that, off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also quit international cricket midway through the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Apart from Gill, the visitors will depend on experienced campaigners like Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain) and KL Rahul to deliver the goods. Team India will also hope that youngsters like Sai Sudharsan and Nitish Kumar Reddy come to the party.

As India prepare for the opening challenge of the five-match Test series against England, here are some interesting recent updates pertaining to the visitors' camp.

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Harshit Rana asked to stay back in England as cover: Reports

Right-arm pacer Harshit Rana, who was part of the India A squad that faced England Lions in a two-match series, has reportedly been asked to stay back as cover with the main Test team. As per a report in Cricbuzz, Harshit has not been officially added to the squad as the 19th member, but has been asked to stay back in England considering a few players are struggling with niggles.

Harshit registered figures of 1-99 from 27 overs in the first unofficial Test against England Lions in Canterbury. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer played two Tests in Australia, claiming four wickets at an average of over 50.

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Gautam Gambhir expected to rejoin Test team soon

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir, who flew back home due to a family emergency, is expected to rejoin Gill and co. on Tuesday itself. As per a report in the Hindustan Times, the former India opener left the team camp in Beckenham after his mother suffered a cardiac arrest on June 11. The report added that the head coach has already left for London to rejoin the team.

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Bumrah reveals why he did not take up Test captaincy

Team India lead pacer Bumrah has admitted that the BCCI were looking at him as the next Test leader following Rohit's retirement from the format. He revealed that he turned down the role due to the workload management factor. In an interview with Dinesh Karthik on Sky Sports, Bumrah said:

"I called the BCCI and said I don't want to be looked at in a leadership role because I won't be able to give [it my] all Test matches coming a five Test-match series. So then, yes, the BCCI was looking at me at leadership. But then I had to say no. It's not fair for the team as well that in a five Test-match series, someone is leading in three matches and someone else in two matches."

The Indian team management has already confirmed that Bumrah will not play all the five Test matches during the ongoing tour of England.

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Ravi Shastri names his playing XI for 1st Test, picks young batter for No. 3 slot

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has picked his preferred playing XI for the first Test against England at Headingley in Leeds. Speaking on the ICC Review show, he named Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul as the openers and backed young batter Sai Sudarshan for the No. 3 slot.

Shastri wants skipper Gill to bat at No. 4 and Karun Nair to come in at No. 5. Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/ Nitish Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna/ Arshdeep Singh also featured in the former India all-rounder's playing XI.

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"Always great to win away series" - Shardul Thakur

Team India all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who slammed a quick-fire hundred in the warm-up clash in Beckenham, has asserted that the visitors are confident of putting up a good show in England. India have arrived in England with a relatively inexperienced side. On paper, they are underdogs, but Thakur opined that the youngsters in the team could make things exciting. He told bcci.tv:

"It's good to have that fresh energy in the team, a few youngsters coming up, and new talents are always exciting. Now that the England team is also playing a different kind of cricket. You know, like to surprise them also that we are here to put up a show, and it's always great to win away series, away from home. And if we could achieve this feat, it would be massive for the entire nation."

Thakur has been recalled to the Test team for the five-match series in England on a back of an excellent domestic season. The 33-year-old has played 11 Tests in which he has claimed 31 wickets and has scored four half-centuries.