Ind vs Eng Tests: Panesar reckoned that it would be interesting to see how the Indian side copes with the situation when senior players – Rohit and Kohli retire.
Delhi: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are easily the two most prolific batters of the generation. And hence to even think of India playing without them, is a scary prospect and that is exactly what former English spinner Monty Panesar feels. In an exclusive interaction on the sidelines of ‘One World, One Family Cup’, Panesar was asked about who is the young Indian cricketer that excites him the most. While naming Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh; Panesar also reckoned that it would be interesting to see how the Indian side copes with the situation when senior players – Rohit and Kohli retire.
“The most exciting at the moment is Rinku Singh. It will be interesting to see when both Virat and Rohit go. Rohit and Kohli once gone will leave a huge gap. You look at the South Africa Test series, there is only Kohli who scored and looked comfortable. That is the reality, you see. You take these two out, the gap is big at the moment and the SA tour showed that. So, there is actually a reality check as to where is the next Kohli coming from. And hence, you have got to make Rohit and Kohli play a bit more and not hang up their boots soon,” Panesar told India.com.
India’s Squad For First Two Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc) and Avesh Khan.
The opening Test takes place at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad from January 25.
Meanwhile, England were dealt with a heavy blow as star batter Harry Brook has been ruled out due to personal reasons of the Test series against India starting in next week. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has named Surrey’s Dan Lawrence as a replacement for Brook. Lawrence will join England’s Test squad within Monday.