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India's head coach Gautam Gambhir has clearly laid out his expectations for the Shubman Gill-led team as they prepare for their challenging five-match Test series against England. With the recent retirements of key players such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin, the Indian side faces a significant task ahead. England has historically proven to be a difficult territory for teams from the subcontinent, and the challenges this time are compounded by the lack of experience in the squad. However, Gambhir is urging the new group of players to concentrate on the chance they now have, rather than focusing on the absence of their seasoned predecessors.
Gautam Gambhir's clear-cut message for Team India ahead of England tour
In a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Gambhir presented his players with a clear choice. He emphasised that they could either dwell on the fact that the team is missing three of its most experienced and influential players, or they could seize the opportunity to achieve something truly special and carve their own path.
"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," Gambhir said in the huddle speech.
While Ravichandran Ashwin had already communicated his decision to retire during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series against Australia, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made their respective Test retirement announcements within the same week, just prior to India's tour of England.
India's Test squad for England tour:
Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
England squad for first Test against India:
Ben Stokes (Captain), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes
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