Very difficult to fill Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli's space, says new India Test captain Shubman Gill

Two veterans, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, announced their Test retirements ahead of the five-match tour to England. Both cricketers had a rough tour to Australia and following which, there were questions on their future in the longest format. Rohit particularly clarified multiple times about his desire to continue playing Test cricket but eventually announced retirement during the IPL.

Virat Kohli soon followed suit. Speaking of their absence, newly appointed Test captain Shubman Gill stated that it will be difficult for the team to replace the void created by the two legendary cricketers. However, he believes that all the players have enough experience of playing under pressure and that they can handle it in the upcoming England tour.

“Pressure is always there in every tour. Definitely, two very experienced players who



played for such a long time and won so many times, very difficult to fill their space. But it is not a different kind of pressure, all of us players are used to it,” Gill said in the press conference. 

Meanwhile, the team management hasn’t finalised the playing XI for the England series. Yashasvi Jaiswal is expected to open alongside KL Rahul, while Karun Nair and Shubman Gill can fill the role of number three and four. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja can fill the fifth and sixth spots. However, if the team management wants to play an extra batter, Dhruv Jurel can be considered, who did well in the unofficial Test against England Lions.

Meanwhile, either Nitish Kumar Reddy or Shardul Thakur can play as a pace-bowling all-rounder, while Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh can be four pacers.