Team India's painful episode down under came to an end on Sunday at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) as Australia hammered them 3-1 to regain the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) for the first time in a decade. Needless to say, it was a series to forget for the Indian players and the coaching staff led by Gautam Gambhir who has now come under severe criticism for his inability to deliver positive results. 

Under his mentorship, India has now lost six out of eight Tests and as the dust settles on the five-match BGT 2024-25 series, the attention now shifts to the white-ball series which is lined up against England later this month just before the start of Champions Trophy. The selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar traveled with the Indian team to Australia along with Gambhir and the duo will now reportedly sit down to discuss possible squad combinations for the upcoming England home series and Champions Trophy. 

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India's probable squad for the England series

Following the tireless Australian tour, the senior players from Team India are likely to be rested for the England series. As per reports, it is highly probable that we could see the omission of some big names like Virat, Rohit, and Bumrah. However, with a very short window period before the start of the marquee event, the chances of them being left out are slim.

Yashasvi Jaiswal could make a strong case for himself at the top of the order and can pair either with Rohit Sharma or Shubman Gill. It remains to be seen where Virat would bat in the batting order. After months of inactivity, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya could possibly return to the ODI set up too. Shreyas Iyer has demonstrated impressive performance in recent white-ball tournaments. The competition for the middle order position appears to be between him and KL Rahul; however, Rahul may have the advantage due to his ability to serve as a wicketkeeper as well. Rishabh Pant is expected to take on the role of the specialist wicketkeeper.

As far as India's pace battery is concerned, India do not want deplete the energy reverses of Jasprit Bumrah after a hectic BGT tour just before the Champions Trophy. Keeping that in mind, India would want to utilize Bumrah judiciously and it is highly likely that we may not see him in action in the white-ball series against England. Apart from him, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami could be the other fast bowlers subjected to fitness.

India's last ODI assignment under Gambhir

India's last white-ball assignment in the ODI format ended in a 0-2 defeat in Sri Lanka. Under Gambhir's mentorship, India suffered the first bilateral series defeat against Sri Lanka in 27 years. Despite being in a very competitive position in the first ODI, the Indian team was forced to settle for a tie in the first game and were subsequently outclassed in the next two ODIs courtesy of a lethal spin bowling attack from Sri Lanka.

However, in the following months, India witnessed a significant surge in performance in the T20I format when they famously took down Bangladesh and South Africa by an unbelievable margin of 3-0 and 4-1 respectively.