Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has urged the youngsters to take responsibility in England in the absence of recently retired Test trio of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma. De Villiers believes there are lot of talented players in India. He credited the Indian Premier League (IPL) for exposing players to international-level crickat at a young age with the most recent example being 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
"Yes, it's time for the younger guys to step up... Shubman Gill taking on the responsibility," de Villiers told the media on the sidelines of a NGO Project Mumbai event.
"There's lots of talent in India and largely credit to the IPL for that, (it is) really giving great exposure to some of the youngsters at a very early age."
"We saw Vaibhav Suryavanshi this year (and) many other youngsters, they come in their first year and they look very mature and ready to play cricket and it's a great platform for Indian cricket," he said.
De Villiers feels it will be tough for a young Indian side on England tour but they can look at it as an opportunity as well.
"They’ve got to take some responsibility on in England, it’ll be a tough test, but they have all the talent in the world and if they believe, maybe they can achieve something special."
De Villiers on Kohli's Test retirement
De Villiers also opened about his former RCB teammate and friend Virat Kohli announcing his retirement from Test cricket.
"He followed his gut feel. I think he has done a lot for cricket around the world over the years. Luckily, we'll still see him on the cricket field. He will be missed in Test matches, there is no doubt about it, but he leaves (behind) a great legacy with the red ball,” de Villiers said.
Kohli will be in action in the IPL 2025 final on June 3. On May 30, Gujarat Titans (GT) were knocked out by Mumbai Indians (MI). The Hardik Pandya-led side will take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2 on June 1.