India will feel Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s absence in Test cricket. No one doubts that. The star batters announce they are hanging up their boots, with a little over a month left before a 5-match tour of England. Excluding Ravindra Jadeja, who’s an all-rounder, Rohit and Kohli were India’s most experienced batters.
And having them won’t be easy for Shubman Gill, India’s new Test captain. Ben Stokes spoke about missing battling with Kohli, but from the point of view of England’s captain, he won’t be one bit sad that neither Kohli nor Rohit will be causing them any trouble.
Recently, Monty Panesar spoke exclusively to InsideSport, where he shared his feelings about the two modern greats’ retirement from Test cricket and how that will help England.
England happy by Rohit-Kohli’s retirement
For the first time in more than a decade, England will be without James Anderson and Stuart Broad. The Lions will also be missing the services of Mark Wood and Olly Stone. There are doubts over Jofra Archer as well. Considering all of this, England will be happy that neither Kohli nor Rohit is there to exploit these holes.
“I think that the England bowlers would be much happier that they are not bowling against Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli. It is a little bit of a surprise that two of them retired at the same time; it leaves a massive hole in the Indian lineup. As an English bowler, I’ll be much happier bowling to a young Indian batsman than to Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. The simple fact is, they are experienced batsmen. They know the conditions in England,” Panesar told InsideSport.
Rohit had an all-time tour in 2021/22, while Kohli was on fire in 2018. Without them, India’s batting looks the weakest it has in years. And this will help English bowlers, who themselves are inexperienced. This grants England the opportunity to prepare for the Ashes by beating India and maintaining their streak at home against the Men in Blue.
“As an English bowler, I’ll still be slightly nervous knowing that there is Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma in the team. For Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, I think they’ll be much happier knowing that this is a young India team and they’ll be much more confident going into the series,” he added.
