Delhi: A big news has surprised everyone before the 5 Test series between India and England starting on 20 June. Team India veteran batsman Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test cricket. This series is also considered to be the beginning of the cycle of World Test Championship 2025-27. This decision was taken by Kohli suddenly, along with the fans, many veterans of the cricket world were also shocked.
Monty Panesar raised questions
Former England spin bowler Monty Panesar believes that Virat Kohli was going to play in this series, but suddenly he decided to retire and “bail out”. Panesar says that Kohli may have received a message from the team management that if his performance in the initial Test matches is not good then he can be excluded in the rest of the matches. Due to this apprehension, Kohli himself must have decided to say goodbye to Test career.
“He was about to play, but maybe under pressure”
Monty Panesar said in a conversation with Hindustan Times, “I was confident that Virat Kohli would play in England. The England team was also preparing to play against him. But perhaps he felt that if he did not go in the initial matches, he would not get a chance to play the whole series. Perhaps that is why he had separated himself and decided to give the youth a chance.”
India’s hopes of victory rested on middle order
Panesar further said that India has a good chance of winning, provided their middle order will perform well. He specially took the names of Karun Nair and Shubman Gill, who can play a big role in this series. He said, “Karun Nair had scored a double century against England Lions. If he and Shubman Gill play well and the experience of county cricket comes for Team India, India has a good chance to win the series in England.”
New beginning under Gill’s captaincy
Another big thing in this series is that Shubman Gill has been given the captaincy of the Test team. This Gill’s first series will be the Test captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement. This 25 -year -old young player has the responsibility of winning the entire team in England on the shoulders. India won the Test series in England in 2007 last time, and now Gill has a chance to repeat history.
Young players will be eyeing
This time the team has many young faces, which will be eyeing everyone. In such a situation, it will be interesting to see if Team India will be able to show strength in the absence of veterans like Kohli and Rohit.
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(Tagstotranslate) Eng vs Ind (T) Monty Panesar (T) Virat Kohli