Gill and Sai Sudharsan to miss second England Lions vs India A game

India's new Test captain Shubman Gill will not play the second unofficial "Test" between England Lions and India A, to be played in Northampton from June 6.

While announcing the Test squad for the five-match series in England, the BCCI had said that Gill, along with Gujarat Titans (GT) opening partner B Sai Sudharsan, would join India A ahead of the game. But ESPNcricinfo has learned that Gill and Sai Sudharsan will now travel with the main squad, which lands in England on June 6. KL Rahul, however, is expected to play the Lions game after joining the India A squad on Tuesday.

The first Test against England starts in Leeds on June 20.

England Lions, who had a total of six Test caps for the first game in Canterbury, are likely to be bolstered by the addition of Chris Woakes for this game.

For India A, Akash Deep will also be available for selection. The fast bowler suffered a back injury after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, but was declared fit in early April after which he played in IPL 2025 for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). While Akash Deep was in Canterbury during the first unofficial "Test" too, he mainly trained with the squad, bowling in short stints during the breaks across the four days.

On Monday, the first Lions vs India A game ended in a draw on a pitch that was flat and slow, making it a toil for the bowlers. Among the India Test squad members, while Karun Nair, who batted at No. 3 in the first innings, scored a double-century, Dhruv Jurel hit two half-centuries, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Nitish Kumar Reddy hit quick fifties in the second innings.

Reddy and Shardul Thakur, the second seaming allrounder in Test squad, bowled 14.5 and 28 overs respectively in the Lions game and would look to add to those numbers in the second game.

Following the second match against Lions, which will end on June 9, India will play an intra-squad match against India A in Beckenham, which is likely to be a closed-door exercise. The Test squad will then travel to Leeds.