Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma stunned the cricketing world when they announced their retirement from Test cricket midway through the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The mainstays of Indian cricket will not be available for the five-match Test series against England, which begins on Friday, June 20.
India will enter the series as underdogs due to the plethora of inexperienced players in the team. They will also have a new skipper, Shubman Gill, in command.
England seam-bowler Brydon Carse, who has been nominated to England’s 14-man team for the first Test at Headingley in Leeds, said Kohli and Rohit would be missed, but he also highlighted India’s batting depth. However, the 29-year-old insisted that the Three Lions are prepared to face any challenge from the Asian heavyweights.
“Obviously, you know, Virat and Rohit Sharma are huge losses to their batting lineup.
They’ve been seasoned players for a number of years, and they’re world-class batters,” Carse told India Today.
“But the depth that Indian cricket have and the quality and players coming through, you know, they will, without a doubt, put up a very strong 11 and we’re ready for whatever challenge that brings,” he told reporters.
Carse has represented England in five Tests, 24 One-Day Internationals, and 11 Twenty20 Internationals. He has taken 27, 28, and 17 wickets in the three formats, respectively. Carse is also a useful batter, with the capacity to score key runs down the order. He averages 18.80 in Tests and 19.54 in One-Day Internationals.
Coming to India’s batting depth, the inclusion of Sai Sudharsan and the comeback of Karun Nair have given the fans a lot of hope. While Sudharsan finished as the Orange Cap winner in the IPL for scoring the most number of runs, Nair proved his worth in the domestic circuit by churning out runs for fun.
