Gautam Gambhir refered to Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharm, and Ravichandran Ashwin's absence |courtesy - BCCI/AP
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Gautam Gambhir gave a fiery speech to the Indian team
- India will play England in a five-match Test series
- The series will start on June 20
Gautam Gambhir indirectly referred to the absence of Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma as Team India began preparations for their tour of England, where they will play five test matches in what will mark the first assignment under Shubman Gill's captaincy.
This will mark the start of new era in Indian cricket as not just will the team begin the 2025-2027 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle but it will also be the first series they will play since the legendary trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma announced their retirements from the longest format of the game.
For those unversed, Ashwin bid adieu to international cricket mid-way through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in December after the Gabba Test, while Rohit and Virat announced their decision to quit Test cricket last month.
Gambhir did not shy away from their refering to their retirements in his first speech since the team assembled but urged his players to not sulk and instead use it as an opportunity to prove themselves.
"There are two ways of looking at this. One is that we are without are three most experienced players (Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin), or we have a phenomenal opportunity to do something special for the country. When I look around this group, I think there's hunger, passion, and the commitment to do something special. If we make sacrifices, if we come out of our comfort zones, if we start fighting, not every day, but every session, every hour, every ball, I think we can have a memorable tour. Make sure we start that from today only. We start enjoying playing for the country because there's no bigger honour," said Gambhir in a video posted by BCCI.TV.
The team arrived in England last week while seven players, who were part of the India A squad playing against England Lions joined them over the last couple of days.
The team are set to play a four-day Intra-Squad match from Friday (June 13) before the series opener in Leeds from June 20.
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