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Last month, two of the senior players in the Indian cricket team, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, had put down curtains on their elaborated Test career. While Rohit Sharma’s decision wasn’t a shocking one, seeing his recent poor performances with the bat, Virat Kohli’s move shook the internet and the cricketing community.
However, as India take on England in the five-match Test series, starting from June 20, they will take the field with some new faces under Shubman Gill’s leadership. It is to be noted that after Rohit and Kohli’s retirement, Shubman Gill was named India’s new Test captain, whereas Rishabh Pant was named his deputy.
It’s a shame they won’t be there: Woakes on Rohit-Kohli’s absence from Test
Ahead of the series opener in Leeds, England all-rounder Chris Woakes opened up on how the game will be without the two greats of Indian cricket. His statement echoed that of England’s red-ball captain Ben Stokes as they called it a “shame”. “It’s always good to come up against strong opposition going into a Test series that you know is going to be hard-fought. We’ve had some good battles against Virat and Rohit over the years. For the game itself, it’s a shame they won’t be there,” Woakes told ESPNCricinfo.
Furthermore, the 36-year-old added that despite the two stalwarts’ absence from the longest format, Team India has enough depth in their lineup. “ But Indian cricket has so much depth, the players who will come in, I’m sure will be of a very high standard, who have proven themselves some way or the other,” claimed the Englishman,” he added.
England vs India Test series squads
England: Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
India: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rishabh Pant (VC, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
