‘Where is Rohit Sharma?’: Rishabh Pant jokes in response at airport; Indian team departs for England | Cricket News
Team India’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant at the Mumbai airport on Friday said that he will miss former India captain Rohit Sharma in the upcoming five-match Test series, starting from June 20.This will be India’s first bilateral Test series since both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket earlier this month. The team is undergoing a transition, with Shubman Gill taking over as captain and Rishabh Pant as vice-captain.At the airport, the paparazzi asked Pant, “Rohit Sharma sir kidhar hai (Where is Rohit Sharma?)”The 27-year-old replied: “Garden mein ghum rahe hai (He is roaming around in his garden).”When coaxed, whether he would miss the garden or not, Pant replied: “Garden ki bahut yaad aayegi (I am going to miss the garden a lot).”The series will be held from June to August 2025, with matches scheduled at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord’s and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester.India has not won a Test series in England since 2007. To prepare, several Indian players had already arrived earlier to represent India A in warm-up matches against the England Lions. The rest of the touring party is scheduled to arrive in the UK on Friday.
Meanwhile, ahead of the Test series, India ‘A’ are currently playing a three-match unofficial Test series against the England Lions. The first match ended in a draw, while the second unofficial Test is set to begin on Friday, June 6, at the County Ground in Northampton.India’s Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.The English squad: Ben Stokes (c), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
