'If we make sacrifices, If we start fighting...': Gautam Gambhir's clear instructions for India players to make England tour memorable

India's head coach Gautam Gambhir has advised Team India players to come out of comfort zones to make the upcoming England tour memorable. Shubman Gill-led new-look Team India will play a five-match Test series against England which is set to start from June 20 in Leeds. This assignment is anticipated to be the new leadership's most formidable challenge thus far. The Indian team will be without the services of seasoned players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin, who have all retired from the Test format. Moreover, pacer Mohammed Shami will be absent due to fitness concerns.

In a video released by the BCCI both Gambhir and Gill outlined their objectives and aspirations for the upcoming series. They also extended a warm welcome to the newcomers joining the red-ball squad, namely Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh. Furthermore, they acknowledged and lauded Karun Nair, who has earned a selection back into the national team after a prolonged gap of seven years.

“All I want to say is that there’s two ways of looking to this tour. One is, we are without our three most experienced players or we got this phenomenal opportunity to do something special for the country. When I look around in this group, I think the hunger, the passion, the commitment to do something special. I think if we make sacrifices, if we come out of our comfort zone, if we start fighting, not every day but every session, every hour and every ball, I think we can have a memorable tour,” Gambhir said.

“Let’s make each and every net session meaningful and let’s prepare like that. And let’s put ourselves under a little bit of pressure when we are going out there. It’s not about going out there and surviving, let’s try to find out our game How we are going to play when we are put under pressure. Be it our bowlers or batters. Let’s play every ball with a purpose,” Gill said.

Watch the video here:

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