Published: Jun 17, 2025, 07:02 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 17, 2025, 07:02 PM (IST)
he presence of Shreyas Iyer in India’s Test squad for the England tour would have helped the team in its major transition journey, feels former opener Nick Knight, who, at the same time, has picked Kuldeep Yadav as a potential trump card for the visitors in the series beginning June 20.
With Iyer not being a part of the team, Knight has high expectations from the likes of Kuldeep and Sai Sudharsan who is expected to make his Test debut at Leeds, the venue for the series opener.
With India having an inexperienced batting line-up following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Knight, who is now a well-known commentator, also singled out K L Rahul to provide the much-needed stability to the top-order.
Speaking to PTI, he also underlined the importance of taking 20 wickets if India are to win their first series in England since 2007. The 55-year-old, who represented England in 17 Tests and 100 ODIs, doesn’t want India to compromise on their bowling to shore up their batting.
Excerpt from the interview:
Q) Do you think India can cover for the loss of Rohit and Kohli in the near future?
A) If there was ever a time for Indian cricket to cope with losing Rohit and Virat, it’s now. I’m going to be brutally honest here. Shreyas Iyer should be here. That would have helped this transition a little bit more. But there’s still plenty of ability there.
The Venues and schedule for the whole series:
1) First Test: June 20-24, Headingley (Leeds)
2) Second Test: July 2-6, Edgbaston (Birmingham)
3) Third Test: July 10-14, Lord’s (London)4)
4) Fourth Test, July 23-27, Old Trafford (Manchester)
5)Fifth Test: July 31- August 4, The Oval (London)
India’s squad for England tour:
Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC/wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
