ENG Lions vs IND A 2025: Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan to miss second unofficial Test

India’s newly-appointed Test captain Shubman Gill and in-form left-hander Sai Sudharsan are set to miss the second unofficial Test between India A and England Lions, which is scheduled to be played at Northampton from June 6 to 9. The upcoming series is set to be India’s first Test tour of England since 2011 without stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, both of whom retired from Test cricket in May this year. 

Gill, who has been given the captaincy duties, was initially scheduled to obtain some match practice by leading the India A side in the second unofficial Test. While Sudharsan, who is coming off a solid IPL 2025 and leads the run-scoring chart with 759 runs, was also expected to feature in the fixture.

However, both players will now travel directly with the main squad to England on June 6. KL Rahul, who wasn’t part of the initial India A squad, will instead feature in the second unofficial game to gain red-ball match fitness. The veteran batter is likely to partner Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order in the Leeds Test starting June 20.

Meanwhile, the first four-day unofficial Test, played in Canterbury, ended in a draw. After being asked to bat first, India A posted a massive first-inning score of 557, thanks to a solid double-century from Karun Nair and contributions from wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan.

Sai Sudharshan likely to make Test debut

In reply, England Lions hammered 587 runs, with opener Tom Haines scoring 171, Max Holden contributing 101, and Dan Mousley adding 113. India A’s Mukesh Kumar was the pick of the bowlers, bagging three wickets. In the visitors' second innings, they reached 241/2 with half-centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, before time ran out.

Notably, Shardul Thakur and Nitish Reddy, both included in the main Test squad as seam-bowling all-rounders, bowled 28 and 14.5 overs respectively. With Gill and Sudharsan now joining the main squad, the main question will be how the Test playing XI will look. Sudharsan, who has already represented India in ODIs and T20Is, is being closely watched for a potential Test debut in the upcoming series.