Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill poked by England; told India will 'miss Virat Kohli's aura, chirping': 'Our boys are ready'

Hindustan Times

a day ago

Eighteen years. 18. That's how long it's been since India last won a Test series in England. In these last 18 years, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin made their debuts, carved out a legacy like no other and retired. Yet, a win in England has eluded their Test careers. And now, in 2025, as a young Indian team takes centre-stage in England, while they are clearly not the favourites to break the hoodoo, do not rule out the element of surprise. Look no further than the 2020-21 tour of Australia, where a young Indian team, battling injuries, did the unthinkable and wrapped up a memorable 2-1 series win.
India have not lost a Test series to England since 2018. They beat England 3-1 at home in 2021, drew the series 2-2 away in 2021-2022 and defeated them again last year at home 4-1. However, the upcoming series, starting in 10 days' time, offers a fresh challenge. With new captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir in charge, India embark on a new World Test Championship cycle, ushering in the post-Kohli-Rohit-Ashwin era, in search of finding and building new superstars.
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The retirement of Virat Kohli, with a little over a month to go for the Test series, threw the fans off guard, but more than the Indians, the Englishmen seem to be more affected by it. Current and former cricketers are ruing not having Kohli in England, including Ollie Pope, who reckons India will certainly miss having their most successful captain in the UK. Pope has no reservations about the pool of young talent that the Indian squad has been injected with. But well, at the end of the day, there is only one Virat Kohli.
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"It's a young team, but these Indian players… they have got so much depth and talent. So they've got a lot of young guys coming through; a lot of good players. Shubman Gill, their new captain, is a fantastic player. They will miss the aura of Virat Kohli standing at slips and chirping away. But they have got some good talent, so they will feel confident. But our players are ready for it," Pope said during an interaction with talkSPORT cricket.
Pope says England, who haven't faced a quality Test team over the last 12 months, are thrilled to have a team like India touring is the perfect preparation for the big one later this year – the Ashes in Australia. However, he is not making the mistake of considering the series against India an afterthought. More so, given England's seven-year-long wait to win a Test series against the Men in Blue.
"It's a great time for us to play India. Last summer, we had the West Indies and Sri Lanka, but with India coming over, the level of quality that they will bring is a great way for us to focus on that and not look ahead. So yeah, for us, it's the perfect time to play India, and then once the Ashes come around, it will be exciting," Pope pointed out.