ENG vs IND 2025: India head coach Gambhir flies home due to family emergency; return date uncertain

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir rushed home (to New Delhi) on Wednesday (June 11) due to a family emergency. The Indian men’s senior team was without Gambhir for their only practice game on the English tour against India-A in Beckenham starting on Friday (June 13). While former India cricketer Hrishikesh Kanitkar was in the India-A dugout, assistant coaches Sitanshu Kotak and Ryan ten Doeschate, along with bowling coach Morne Morkel, took charge of the senior side.

Although it remains unclear when Gautam will rejoin the squad, or even if he would in the first place, his absence comes at a crucial time, when the newly-appointed captain, Shubman Gill, alongside the team management, was looking forward to working on assembling the best XI for the five-match Test series starting June 20 in Leeds.

With no media telecast of this intra-squad game between India and India-A on BCCI’s orders, Gambhir misses out on closely watching, analysing and working on formalising the top order, which needed replacements following the retirement of two stalwarts – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The two master cricketers hung their Test boots in the space of five days (last month), leaving the selectors to pick and play a new-look Indian Team.

With at least a couple of new slots to fill, uncapped Sai Sudharsan is running the race from the senior team XI for this game, while spare opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, Dhruv Jure and returning Karun Nair, among those from the India-A vying for a place in the Indian Team for the England Tests.

Barring the batters, the decision makers also have to pick between Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur for the all-rounder's position in the XI. Though Reddy has his Australia tour numbers to press his case for England Tests, Thakur’s experience could come in handy for the visitors, as he has toured England before.

Moreover, ace quick Jasprit Bumrah will lead the pace attack but is unlikely to play all matches, with the selectors having plenty to choose from to compensate for that, including uncapped Arshdeep Singh.

Meanwhile, the Indian Team observed a minute's silence for the ones killed in the Ahmedabad plane crash ahead of their closed-door practice game against India-A.

“The players and members of the support staff involved in the intra-squad game in Beckenham are wearing black armbands. A minute's silence was also observed today to pay homage to the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash, as a mark of respect for the lives lost and solidarity with the affected families,” the BCCI captioned two photos they posted on their social media handles.