`Kohli will be missed more in England than Rohit`: Geoffrey Boycott

Team India will miss the services of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the upcoming five-match Test series against England, following the duo’s recent decision to step away from the longest format of the game.

Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott remarked that, more than Rohit, India will feel Kohli’s absence in the series against the Three Lions.

“Rohit was a superb batsman. At his best, a beautiful stroke player, but he won`t be missed as much as Kohli, because his Test record was good rather than exceptional. In the last couple of years, his batting was a little inconsistent, which was not surprising in his late 30s,” Boycott wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph

He further added that India’s biggest loss is Kohli’s decision to step away from red-ball cricket.

“The retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hurts the chances of India beating England. Kohli is the biggest loss as he has been their best batsman and talisman in all three formats,” he said.

Following Rohit’s retirement, Shubman Gill was appointed as India’s new Test captain, with Rishabh Pant named his deputy for the England series.

One of the major concerns for Team India heading into the series is the availability of lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Owing to workload management, Bumrah has been advised not to play in consecutive Test matches.

Sai Sudharsan and Joe Root will be among the top players to watch in the series. Both batters have been in superb form and are expected to play key roles in this much-anticipated contest.

Ind vs Eng Test series: Squads

India squad: 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, Harshit Rana.

England: Ben Stokes (Durham) – Captain, Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Sam Cook (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).

(With PTI Inputs)

This article first appeared on Mid Day