India will be without the services of their senior batters, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, when they face England for the all-important five-match Test series, starting June 20. Both former captains announced their retirements from Test cricket a couple of weeks back and they will now only play ODIs. Rohit announced his Test retirement on May 7 while Virat retired on May 12.

Gautam Gambhir has reacted after the retirements of the two legends and opined that no one has the right to tell someone when to retire. Speaking to CNN News18, Gambhir said: "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," Gambhir told CNN-News18.

"And yes, 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 and say, Okay, I’m ready for it. So yes, it will be tough, but then there’ll be people putting their hand up for sure because this question was asked to me before. Champions Trophy as well. When Jusprit Bumrah wasn’t there and I said exactly the same thing, someone missing out might give another person an opportunity to do something special for the country, hopefully, there’ll be other guys waiting for that opportunity."

Virat was the Test captain on the 2021 tour of England while Rohit was India's opener. India returned home with a 2-1 lead after four Tests. The fifth Test was played a year later.

Shubman Gill is the front-runner to take over captaincy on a full-time basis. He is likely to be assisted by Rishabh Pant, one of India's best batsmen since his debut in 2018.

Jasprit Bumrah is likely to play only three games in the series while Mohammed Shami is likely to be ignored. The selectors will announce the squad and new captain on May 24.