India's Young Batters Face Acid Test in England

India's young guns are fearless and mentally hardened by the IPL exposure.
But true mettle will be tested when adversity strikes -- and this time, there will be no Kohli to stir up the crowd, no Rohit to deliver a captaincy masterstroke, and no Ashwin to conjure wickets out of nowhere.

The new-look Indian team under the captaincy of young Shubman Gill faces a tough challenge against England in their high-profile five Test series, which gets underway on June 20.

The retirements of stalwarts Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have forced the selectors into a complete reset, and several untested players will have to undergo a trial by fire in England.

The senior trio had a combined Test experience of 296 Tests -- nearly 100 Tests each on average -- in which they aggregated 17,034 runs and 539 wickets.

The current 18-member Indian squad in England has a combined experience of 371 Tests -- only 20.6 Tests each on average.

Ravindra Jadeja is the most experienced player with 80 Tests and K L Rahul is the only other player to have featured in 50 or more Tests.

In fact, three players -- Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan, Arshdeep Singh -- are yet to make their Test debut, while seven of the 18 members have not played a single Test match in England.

The Jasprit Bumrah-led bowling attack, which includes the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, looks potent, but the team's batting line-up doesn't inspire too much confidence.

It is clear that in the absence of a clear succession plan in the last few years and with Bumrah's regular injury woes, Gill became more of a forced choice than a natural candidate for the Test captaincy role.

In fact, Gill was dropped from the playing XI during India's last Test series in Australia and came back for the last match in Sydney only after Rohit opted to bench himself.

Gill's career record doesn't offer much reassurance, either. He averages 35.05 in 32 Tests since his debut in 2020, scoring 1,893 runs with five centuries and seven fifties.

Gill has this rather ordinary record despite having the liberty to choose his batting position. After he struggled to cope with the challenges of opening the batting, he was allowed to bat at No. 3, but consistency has eluded him.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made his debut three years after Gill, has already scored nearly as many runs as Gill in 13 fewer Tests.

Jaiswal, who has enjoyed a dream start to his Test career, boasts of an excellent record of 1,798 runs in 19 Tests at an average of 52.88, with four centuries and 10 fifties.

Gill's record in different batting positions:

Gill's recent Test form hasn't been encouraging, either. He managed just 93 runs in three Tests in Australia, after making a modest 144 runs in two matches against New Zealand at home. But he will take some encouragement from his showing against England at home last year, when he amassed 452 runs in five Tests at an average of 56.50, including two centuries.

It remains to be seen where Gill would bat in the England series. While he is widely expected to continue in his favoured No. 3 position, there are indications that he could move to the crucial No. 4 slot -- the position left vacant by Kohli.

Gill's move to No. 4 could allow Sai Sudharsan to make his debut at No. 3. Though the young left-hander proved to be unstoppable with the bat in IPL 2025, he won't find it easy in the seamer-friendly conditions in the UK. He can, however, draw some confidence from his county stint two years ago, when he figured in two matches for Surrey.

Like Gill, Sudharsan's white ball credentials outweigh his red ball numbers. While he averages 39.93 for 1,957 runs in 29 first class games, he boasts of a superb average of 60.69 for 1,396 runs in 28 List A matches. He has made most of his runs in T20 cricket -- 2271 runs in 60 matches at an average of 43.67 and a strike rate of 138.05.

Nonetheless, he is being touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket, especially in the longer format, and will be eager to seize his chances in England.

Meanwhile, K L Rahul has finally got a golden chance to revive his stuttering Test career. Since his debut in 2014, inconsistency has plagued him, limiting him to just 58 Tests in 11 years. His modest average of 33.57 is an indicator of his inconsistency and explains why he has been dropped so often.

He returns as the opener for the England series -- a position where he has batted for most of his Test career.

At 33, time isn't on Rahul's side, especially with younger batters waiting in the wings. This series could well define his future in Tests. He struggled to be consistent in Australia, where he opened in all five Tests. He started brightly with a half-century (77) in the first Test in Perth but managed just another fifty in the next eight innings, to finish with 276 runs in 10 innings at an average of 30.67.

K L Rahul's record in Tests (Year-by-Year):

England has been one of Rahul's happier hunting grounds. In the last series in 2021-2022, he made 315 runs in four Tests, while in 2018, he scored 299 runs in five matches, scoring a century each on the two tours.

Karun Nair is set for a long-awaited comeback and is likely to bat at No. 5. He boosted his chances of making it to the playing XI with a century and a fifty for India against England Lions in the second unofficial Test at Northampton earlier this month.

He forced his way back into the Indian team with tons of runs in domestic cricket last season, especially the Ranji Trophy, in which he piled up 863 runs in nine games at an average of 53.93 and four centuries, playing a vital role in Vidarbha's title triumph.

Having last played a Test in 2017, the 33 year old will be under pressure, despite his vast domestic experience of 116 matches. His lack of international exposure remains a concern, too.

Rishabh Pant will have to sort out his batting approach in Test cricket. His swashbuckling approach came in for a lot of criticism in Australia after he gave away his wicket to a rash shot in the MCG Test.

Promoted to No. 5 in Australia, Pant was guilty of throwing away starts, falling thrice in the 20s, twice in the 30s, and getting dismissed for 40 and 61 in the final Test in Sydney.

The huge difference between his record at home and away is also a concern. His record in away Tests -- 1,887 runs in 30 away Tests at an average of 37 -- is inferior to his home record of 1,061 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 55.84.

Pant enjoys an impressive record in England, where he has made 556 runs in nine Tests at 32.70, with two centuries and as many fifties. In fact, his last three innings in England got him 50, 146 and 57 runs.

With a suspect batting line-up, any injury or dip in form to top-order batters could badly hurt India, given the unproven nature of their backups.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, despite back-to-back fifties for India A, is yet to earn a Test debut and may again warm the bench, as he did in Australia.

Dhruv Jurel impressed in Pant's absence during the England home series last year -- 190 runs in three Tests at 63.33 -- but will likely remain the backup wicket-keeper here.

All-rounders like Jadeja, Sundar, Reddy and Thakur can contribute with the bat, but their effectiveness depends on the top- and middle-order stability. They can't be expected to rescue the team from 50/5 or 75/6.

This is easily one of India's most inexperienced batting line-ups to have toured England, which is traditionally a challenging place to score runs, especially if the conditions aid seamers.

India's young guns are fearless and mentally hardened by the IPL exposure. But true mettle will be tested when adversity strikes -- and this time, there will be no Kohli to stir up the crowd, no Rohit to deliver a captaincy masterstroke, and no Ashwin to conjure wickets out of nowhere.

The young Indian players are no doubt fearless and their experience of playing top level cricket in the IPL has made them mentally strong. But Test cricket is the most challenging form of the sport, and their true worth will only be known when they encounter tough times on the field, when Gill will have no one to fall back on.

There are no safety nets now -- only a steep learning curve for India's Gen Next in the most demanding conditions Test cricket can offer.

• India In England, 2025