Axed India Star Sends Big Message To Gautam Gambhir With Century In Intra Squad Match
The player isn't a part of the senior team on the tour, and he made sure to make his time in England count.
- NDTV Sports Desk
- Updated: June 15, 2025 07:12 am IST

- India's Test series against England starts on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds.
- Captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul scored fifties on the first day of the intra-squad match.
- Sarfaraz Khan scored a century on day two, despite not being part of the senior squad.
Team India continued their preparation for the Test series opener against England, starting June 20, with day 2 of their behind-closed-doors intra-squad game at the Kent Cricket Ground in Beckenham on Saturday. On Day 1, captain Shubman Gill and veteran batter KL Rahul dazzled with half-centuries. Day 2 was even better for one of India's star batters Sarfaraz Khan; albeit he is not part of the official squad for the five-match series. According to a report by Cricbuzz, Sarfaraz scored a century on the second day of play.Â
Sarfaraz isn't a part of the senior team on the tour, and he made sure to make his time in England count, having also scored a 92 for India A during one of the two unofficial Tests against England Lions.
Meanwhile, the Indian Express reported that Sarfaraz was retired out for 101. The likes of Abhimanyu Easwaran (39), Sai Sudharsan (38), Ishan Kishan (43) and Washington (0 and 35) were amongst the runs on Day 2. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is leading India A in the match, got out for a duck.
On the first day of the match, KL Rahul and skipper Gill scored fifties while Shardul Thakur was among wickets.
Earlier, India A had played two unofficial Tests against England Lions, both ending in a draw. The series featured several players from the main squad, such as Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shardul Thakur, Nitish Kumar Reddy etc.
India's first Test against England at Leeds from June 20 will mark the start of a new era under newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill, as he aims to lead a new-look team to glory following the retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from Tests and Ravichandran Ashwin from international cricket.
The series will be held from June to August 2025, with matches scheduled at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord's and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester.
India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), 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.
(With ANI Inputs)