Shubman Gill named India’s new test skipper ahead of England tour

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shubman Gill was named as India’s new test skipper on Saturday to lead the team on its five-test tour of England starting June 20.

The 25-year-old batter takes over from Rohit Sharma, who announced his retirement from test cricket this month followed by batting great Virat Kohli doing the same. Sharma last led India against Australia during the Boxing Day test.

“We discussed every option that’s there, over the last year or so, and we have looked at Shubman various times,” selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar said. “We have taken a lot of feedback from the dressing room. We are hopeful he is the guy — he is a terrific player and our best wishes to him.”

Gill will lead India for the first time in tests, having had only T20 captaincy experience prior. He had led India in Zimbabwe in 2024 when other senior players were rested. He currently leads Gujarat Titans atop the Indian Premier League.

His ascension to Indian cricket’s top job comes ahead of the 2025-27 world test championship cycle — India begins its campaign against England.

“You don’t pick captains for one tour or two tours,” Agarkar said. “We have seen some progress over the last year or two with him. No doubt, it is going to be tough as it gets.”

Headingley in Leeds is the setting for the first test.

Gill made his test debut against Australia in December 2020 and has featured in 32 matches since, scoring 1,893 runs at average 35.05.

He is the fifth-youngest cricketer to become India’s test captain.

Keeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been named vice-captain for India’s tour of England.

Jasprit Bumrah had been an option for the captaincy. He led India during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy — in the first test at Perth and then again in the final test at Sydney, where Sharma dropped himself. However, the pacer wasn't chosen considering his fitness issues.

“We don’t think he will be available for all five tests — whether he plays three or four, we will see based on how the series goes and his workload,” Agarkar said. “We are happy he is part of the squad and have spoken with him. Jasprit understands the decision and his fitness. With him, it is about workload management.”

Sharma, Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, who had also retired mid-series in Australia, are the key names missing from India’s squad. Karun Nair returns to the test fold to lend some experience and is expected to bat in the middle order.

“Virat reached out to us in early April and felt he had given everything he had,” Agarkar said. “We have seen him give 200 percent even when he is on the field, so if he couldn’t keep up to the standards, (he felt) it was time for him. It came from him and we had to respect that.”

Nair has a test triple hundred to his name — against England in Chennai (2016) — and has recently been in fine form. He scored 863 runs in nine Ranji Trophy games (First-Class) and 779 runs in eight Vijay Hazare Trophy games (List-A) in the 2024-25 domestic season. He also played for Northamptonshire in the 2024 County season and scored a double hundred.

Other notable inclusions are those of batter Sai Sudharsan and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh.

Sudharsan currently leads the IPL batting charts with 638 runs in 13 games for Gujarat Titans. He is expected to bat at number three, with Gill slotting in at number four to replace Kohli. Experienced batter Lokesh Rahul is expected to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Meanwhile, Singh has been India’s mainstay in white-ball formats and has earned this call-up to the test side after 9 ODIs and 63 T20s. He was also part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup triumph in the West Indies.

Pacer Mohammed Shami was left out owing to poor form and fitness concerns.

Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who was part of India’s last tour to England in 2021-22, also returns to the squad, which includes spin all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.

India’s squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

FILE -India's Shubman Gill celebrates after scoring a century during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Bangladesh and India in Chattogram Bangladesh, Dec. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav, File)

FILE -India's Shubman Gill celebrates his century on the third day of the second test match between India and England, in Visakhapatnam, India, Feb. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

Gujarat Titans' captain Shubman Gill walks after the toss during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Gujarat Titans' captain Shubman Gill bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Gujarat Titans' captain Shubman Gill bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)