Former Indian cricketer Piyush Chawla is confident about the new Indian squad heading for the five-match tour of England. He noted that even though they lack international experience, they’ve played a lot of cricket and know how to handle different situations on the field. Piyush shared his thoughts with the media during the engagement ceremony of Indian batter Rinku Singh and Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj. He mentioned, “They might not have much international experience, but they’ve played enough cricket and understand how to tackle challenges. Things will improve.”
The five-Test series in England kicks off on June 20, marking the start of India’s ICC World Test Championship cycle for 2025-27, and will also be the beginning of a new chapter with Shubman Gill as captain after the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
The Test squad for the England series includes: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), 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, and Kuldeep Yadav.
Regarding Rinku’s engagement, Piyush offered his best wishes, saying, “I wish them both all the best.” It’s worth noting that Chawla recently announced his retirement from all formats of cricket. He made an impact early on, representing India Under-19 at 15 and playing for Uttar Pradesh U-22. In his first-class season, he took 35 wickets and scored 224 runs, helping Uttar Pradesh win their first Ranji Trophy.
Chawla played 35 matches for India across formats, taking 43 wickets at an average of around 35.76. He had a strong career in the Indian Premier League (IPL), playing for various teams like Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, and Mumbai Indians, snagging 192 wickets in 192 games at an average of 26.60.
Another former cricketer, Praveen Kumar, commented on Rinku’s engagement, saying, “The ceremony was nice. I wish them all the best for this new chapter.” Rinku has been a regular in T20s since the last T20 World Cup but is still waiting for his chance in ODIs. He’s played two ODIs so far, scoring 55 runs. In T20Is, he’s played 33 matches, scoring 546 runs with an average of 42 and a strike rate over 161. He hasn’t got a T20I century yet, having made his debut against Ireland in 2023. Rinku also helped the Indian team win a gold medal in cricket at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023.
In the IPL, Rinku has been a key player for Kolkata Knight Riders, playing 59 matches and scoring 1,099 runs with a strike rate of 145.20, including four half-centuries.