Why are Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Riyan Parag not part of England T20I series?

Indian cricket selectors have announced the team for the five-match T20I series against England. Veteran seamer Mohammed Shami is back in the team as he looks to make it to the ODI side as well as the team for Champions Trophy 2025. There was massive surprise with certain selection calls made by the five wise men of Indian cricket. 

Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill, who were part of the Australian touring party, weren’t included. According to reports, both the young players have been rested with the massive ODI series set to follow. Both players will be in contention for the Champions Trophy 2025 tournament, which is set to take place in February. 

Meanwhile, Riyan Parag, who made an amazing start to his international career, is still not fit. The youngster last played during the T20I series at home against Bangladesh. The Rajasthan Royals all-rounder missed the subsequent tour of South Africa and the white-ball domestic season for Assam. 

Axar Patel named vice-captain for T20I series against England 

All-rounder Axar Patel has been named as the vice captain for the five-match series against England. The 30-year-old hasn’t played for India since the tour of South Africa and was ignored for the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. The 30-year-old also missed out on a spot for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. 

It is to be noted that the selectors hadn’t named a vice captain for the T20I series towards the end of last year’s home series. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side, having overseen series wins against Bangladesh and South Africa. Young pacer Mayank Yadav is also missing in action as he is yet to recover from the injury he suffered during his debut series. 

Rishabh Pant last played a T20I game for India during the finals of the T20 World Cup in June. Shubman Gill played his last game in the shortest format during the tour of Sri Lanka, which India won 3-0. Gill scored 39 runs from 37 balls just months after leading India to a 4-1 series win against Zimbabwe. Shivam Dube, who, like Gill, last played against Sri Lanka in July 2024, is another name that is missing.