England Diaries: 2 Indian bowlers, one stays, the other back. Know the story

The Indian Cricket Team's highly anticipated test tour of England is almost around the corner. The bumper five-test rubber marks the beginning of the new World Test Championship Cycle (WTC) for 2025-27. The teams will be playing for the 'Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy' as the name of the mega series has been changed from the original 'Pataudi Trophy'. The five matches are slated to be played at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord's in London, Old Trafford in Manchester, and The Oval in London. The first of the marquee clashes commences on Friday, 20th June, and fans are eagerly waiting to witness some exhilarating red ball cricketing action. 

The India Test Team enters this new cycle while being in a transitional phase. With the retirement of stalwarts like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin, a new era beckons for the young group of players in the UK. It's up to the next generation, surrounded with only a few notable senior players currently, to carry forward the legacy and build further. With Shubman Gill being handed over the skipper duties, and some new additions in the squad, it will be interesting to see their blueprint for a healthy transition ahead. 

India's time on the British shores began with an unofficial test series between the England Lions and India A. The purpose of this series was to provide some match practice to the players entering the test arena from IPL T20 cricket. The two 4-day encounters served as red ball game time for a lot of First-Class (FC) cricketers in the reckoning for the senior team. With a few chances of impressing the coach and national selectors by their cricketing skills on English soil, players like Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Sarfaraz Khan took the field against the Lions. Both matches ended in draws, however, there was a bigger picture associated with the outcome of the games. Understanding the conditions and analyzing a few players for some potential spots and backups in the main starting XI against England in Leeds were at the topmost of the agenda.

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An intra-squad warm-up match was organised in Beckenham to precede the series opener. All the players from the touring party were divided into two teams for one final simulation and to decide on players staying back. In a surprising and unexpected selection move, Harshit Rana was favoured and added to the test squad for the first game as a bowling cover. The rest of the 'India A' players were on their way back home. In a move that has faced backlash since, it is seen as an unfair one on Anshul Kamboj, potentially the most deserving candidate to be included in the squad, but not to be for now. Both of them, originally, were not in the squad, but Harshit, a 23-year-old right-arm Delhi pacer, got the nod over Anshul, a 24-year-old quick from Haryana. The former debuted in Australia in late 2024 and picked up just four wickets from two 'Border-Gavaskar Trophy' tests. However, the decision of his current inclusion hasn’t gone down well with a former Indian cricketer, who reprimanded the team management for their obsession with Rana.

Anshul Kamboj should have been added to the squad. Don’t understand this obsession with Harshit Rana #ENGvIND

— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) June 16, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

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Standing on the right side of numbers in First-Class (FC) cricket, and in the recently played series against the England Lions, Anshul has produced better returns than Harshit. A statistical comparison between the two, in red ball cricket, upholds this fact. 

Keeping the stats under scrutiny and then considering this bizarre decision, speculations have arisen over bias. Fans and former cricketers have spoken out against the team management, selectors, and head coach, Gautam Gambhir, for their favouritism towards Harshit Rana. Anshul Kamboj deserved to stay back and get added to the main squad for the series. It will be interesting to see if Rana can pay back the faith shown in him. Regardless of that, as Shubman Gill takes guard at the dawn of India's next test, unless batters don't play responsibly, much can't be expected from the outcome of the series. India has a great arsenal in their bowling ranks, and they will certainly deliver the goods from the word go.