Sanjay Bangar announces Virat Kohli's Test replacement

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar has named two players to make their return to the Indian Test team playing XI against England. Recently, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirements from Test cricket.

Now, Sanjay Bangar has made surprise inclusions in the Indian Test team vs England. Team India will be playing a 5-Test series in England later in June.

The top order of the Indian side is currently the biggest challenge for the selectors. KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are now left in the core top-order.

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Sanjay Bangar’s picks

Sanjay Bangar wants Abhimanyu Easwaran to start the England tour as an opener. Easwaran has scored lots of runs in the domestic circuit.

Abhimanyu Easwaran has been around the Indian test setup but couldn’t manage to get a single opportunity in the red-ball format.

Sanjay Bangar also backs Karun Nair to bat at No. 4 in the England tour. Nair has had a brilliant season with the bat in first-class cricket.

Nair is also back in the Indian Test setup after a nine-year absence, due to his performances in all formats of domestic cricket in 2024-25.

"I'm thinking of Karun Nair at No.4. If all the talk of giving domestic the priority and (using it as) benchmark, then he has done everything possible to get his Test spot back," Sanjay Bangar stated.

Karun Nair and Abhimanyu Easwaran’s domestic cricket performance

Karun Nair is the second batter after Virender Sehwag to score a triple century in Test cricket for India. But after his remarkable unbeaten 303 runs against England, he didn’t get any chance to play again for India.

Nair scored the triple century under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, and now Nair is in the squad after Kohli announced his retirement after nine years.

Nair’s last season in domestic cricket was phenomenal as he scored 863 runs in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 and also scored 779 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy at an unbelievable 389 average.

After his performance in the domestic circuit, Nair also made his return in the IPL. He scored 89 runs off just 40 balls for Delhi Capitals on his IPL return.

Abhimanyu Easwaran has been consistent in the red-ball format. He is scoring runs from the last few years in domestic cricket.

Easwaran is yet to make his debut for the national side, but has played over 100 Test matches in the domestic circuit.

The right-hand batter plays for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy and scored 7674 runs in the domestic circuit in 101 matches. Easwaran has made 27 tons and 29 half-centuries as well.

Abhimanyu Easwaran as India A captain

Abhimanyu Easwaran has been announced as the skipper for the India A squad against England Lions. India A team will take on England A before the India vs England Test series.

Easwaran and Nair are both in the squad of India A squad and will look to perform in the two-test matches against England Lions.

Their selection for the England tour will depend on their performances against the England A side in English conditions.

Read also: Hardik Pandya snubs Rohit Sharma, credits these 2 MI stars for making his job easy