India veteran all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who is part of the Shubman Gill-led squad for the five-Test match series against England, recalled his last Test tour under Rohit Sharma's captaincy. Rohit Sharma-led India travelled to England for the five-Test match series in 2021, and the series ended as a 2-2 draw.
In a video shared by BCCI, Shardul said that India could easily have won the first Test of the series, which was played in Nottingham, but it was rain that changed the momentum of the game.
"I think the 2021 series, where we won a couple of games. The first one also we could have won, but unfortunately, it rained on the last and we couldn't chase down the total. But then we won in the Lord's, then we won in the Oval and then we came back for the fifth test next year. The series was level, but that was one of the fondest memories of mine, one of the best test series that I have been part of" said Shardul Thakur.
Shardul also opened up on challenges in England, where he said that the weather plays a huge role and a player needs to make adjustments according to that.
"I think it's very exciting to play in this part of the world where you face different challenges. The first one, of course, is weather. Sometimes it's cloudy, sometimes it's bright sunny, and as a player, you need to make adjustments to your game, whether you're batting or bowling," Shardul also said
As Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their Test retirement, the BCCI announced a new look team for the England series, where Shubman Gill will lead the side and Rishabh Pant will be his deputy. There are chances that Arshdeep Singh will also make his Test debut in England. Shardul, who recently smashed an unbeaten century in India's intra-squad clash ahead of the five-Test series against England, reckons that this Indian team will surprise the Ben Stokes-led side to win the series.
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Good to have that fresh energy in the team. Few youngsters are coming up, and new talent is always exciting. Now that the England team is also playing a different kind of cricket. You know, like to surprise them also that we are here to put up a show. And it's always great to win away series away from home. And if we could achieve this feat, it would be massive for the entire nation, I feel.
India squad for England series
Shubman Gill(C), Rishabh Pant(vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Parishdh Krishna, Akashdeep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav