Gautam Gambhir accepts how India’s tour to England will be ‘Tough’ after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s Test retirement

Team India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has accepted that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not being present in the team is going to be a great challenge for everyone, but has also stated that their retirement from Test cricket has made opportunities for young talents to step up.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket within the span of 7 days. This decision by both the players has come with less than a month remaining for India’s five-match Test series against England.

“I think, when you start the game and when you want to finish, it’s a very individual decision. No one has the right. Be it the coach, the selector, be it anyone in this country has any right to tell someone when to retire and when not to retire. So it comes from within,” Gautam Gambhir told CNN-News18.

After the retirement of both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Team India will be looking for a new Test captain to which Gautam Gambhir accepted that it won’t be easy to replace the two players. “We’ve got to be without two senior players to really experience players. And sometimes I believe that it’s the opportunity for some other people to put their hand up,” he said.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will now be only seen in the One-Day format for the national team. On being asked about the two playing in the 2027 ODI World Cup, Gambhir said, “Look, it’s still a long way away. We still have a T20 World Cup before that and that is again a huge tournament. So the entire focus at the moment.”