New Delhi: Former England pace ace James Anderson is convinced India have enough adequate replacements to cover up the huge hole created in their batting line-up from the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
The two stars left red-ball cricket within five days of each other, a month before India embarks on a new World Test Championship cycle with a five-match Test series in England.
Kohli and Rohit left T20Is after helping India win the T20I World Cup last year and will now represent the country in only ODIs.
Former skipper Kohli ended his Test career with 9230 runs from 123 matches at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries while captain Rohit amassed 4301 runs from 67 Tests at an average of 40.57 with 12 hundreds.
“Great players. Kohli, one of the greatest Test batters that’s ever been. There will be a new captain because Sharma has retired, There’s big shoes to fill there but they’ve got a huge amount of talent in their squad,” Anderson told ‘talkSPORT’.
With reports of Shubman Gill being chosen to lead the team in England, a fresh crop of batters will battle for the vacant slots.
“You just have to watch the IPL. They are bringing players into Test cricket from the IPL now who are just so attacking, aggressive, and fearless,” he said.
Anderson retired from international cricket last year after a record 704 wickets for a seamer from 188 Tests and 269 dismissals from 194 ODIs.
Kohli and Rohit’s departures give England an advantage against India in a year where they will also battle in the Ashes series in Australia. But it would be unwise to disregard India altogether.
“If I’m being honest, looking back at my career, that happened too much where, 18 months out from an Ashes the management and even the players starting to look towards that and actually forgetting what’s in front of you,” the former right-arm seamer said.
“India is going to be such a tough challenge even at home. They are a strong side.”
Virat Kohli and Rohit SHarma left Test cricket within five days of each other, a month before India embarks on a new World Test Championship cycle with a five-match Test series in England. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
