Gautam Gambhir addresses Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli voids in England, urges Shubman Gill & Co to come out of comfort zone

India head coach addressed the void created by the Test retirements of Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli in England and urged the young group led by Shubman Gill to come out of their comfort zone for success in the five-match Test series, that starts on June 20 in Headingly.

The series against England embarks a new era for Indian cricket with the big three missing for the first time in Test cricket. While Ashwin called time on his international career in the middle of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, Kohli and Rohit bid adieu to their red-ball career within a span a four days last month.

Addressing the new-look group, Gambhir spoke about the sacrifices and commitments to do something special in England. “Guys, all I want to say is there are two ways to look at this tour. One is we are without three of our most experienced players or we have a phenomenal opportunity to do something special for the country,” Gambhir said in a video released by the BCCI.

“When I look in this group, I think the hunger, the passion and the commitment to do something special…the sacrifices, I think if we play out of our comfort zone, if we start fighting, not everyday, but every session, every hour, every ball, I think we can have a memorable tour,” added the Indian head coach.