England captain Ben Stokes is kind of fed up with ongoing discussions surrounding the absence of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Rohit Sharma from the Indian Test squad, following their retirements from the format. On the day before the commencement of the Test series against a relatively inexperienced Indian side, captained for the first time by Shubman Gill, the experienced English all-rounder sought to dismiss the narrative that India is significantly weakened by the absence of these three seasoned players.
"There's been a lot said about no Rohit, no Virat and no Ashwin, that doesn't mean that we think it's going to be any easier than what it ever is against India. The pool of talent that Indian cricket has is just ginormous," Stokes said in England's pre-match press conference.
Ashwin was the first of the three to step away from Test cricket, announcing his retirement midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year. Rohit Sharma, who held the captaincy for both India's Test and ODI teams, decided to retire from the red-ball format last month, and Virat Kohli followed suit with his own retirement announcement just five days later. Stokes acknowledged that any team would naturally appear diminished by the simultaneous retirements of players of the caliber of Ashwin, Kohli, and Rohit. However, he also emphasized that India has consistently demonstrated its ability to produce high-quality cricketers, ensuring a continuous flow of talent into the national team.
"Although Virat, Rohit and Ashwin have done amazing things for their country on the field, that doesn't mean that whoever comes in to replace those individuals are going to be any less hard to bowl at or bat against, just because of how big the pool of talent is in India. We've spent a lot of time out at the IPL, so I know that there's a lot of it. Obviously, three massive names, three people who have done wonderful things for their country, but it is not going to be any easier for us because of those three big names out there," Stokes added.
Stokes conceded that Jasprit Bumrah poses a significant threat to the English batting lineup in the upcoming series. However, he also clarified that his team's strategy will not solely revolve around negating the impact of the Indian pace spearhead.
When questioned whether the primary focus of fans might shift to Bumrah, given the absence of prominent batsmen like Kohli and Rohit from the Indian touring party, Stokes offered his perspective.
"Bumrah leading their attack, he's a fantastic bowler but there (are) 11 players on the team, and it takes a team to win a game of cricket. But we know Bumrah is an amazing bowler all around the world. His record shows that, wherever he goes, he does well. We know Bumrah is going to be a threat, but we know that every other bowler that India has is also going to be a threat. Focusing on one individual over another isn't what we're going to be doing, but obviously, you pay respect to your opposition, and Bumrah certainly is a fantastic bowler," Stokes concluded.