"India will replace the skill side of it...": Ponting on team's transition from Rohit, Virat

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting expressed that while replacing legendary India batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would be a hard thing to do in Test format, they have the quality and skill in their players to cope with this massive task better than other teams.

The five-test tour of England, starting June 20 at Leeds and lasting until August 2025, is set to be a heavy one for fans and players alike. With senior stars Rohit and Virat having retired from the longest format of the game, the onus lies on the Shubman Gill-led new-look Indian side to prove themselves away from home in tough English conditions and ensure that Indian cricket is safe. Several newer talents and domestic cricket/Indian Premier League (IPL) performers like Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan have earned a ticket to the UK as a part of the main squad.

Speaking in the ICC Review as quoted by ICC, Ponting said, "It is always very hard to replace players like that that have been around for so long, that have played that much Test cricket. But if any country can do it and do it quickly, India can because of the amount of young talent that they have."

"I have seen it firsthand for 10 years around the IPL, and we have seen the emergence of (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and these sorts of guys who have come into international cricket with India and done really well pretty much straight away."

"The skill side of it is one thing to replace, and I think India will replace the skill side of it easily enough, but the experience is the big thing that will be missing for them. So now, even with a young captain with Shubman Gill, they will still have some experience with KL Rahul and (Jasprit) Bumrah and these sort of guys."

"But I think if you look at a rebuilding sort of phase, I think India can cope with it better than most other teams," he concluded.

Rohit bid adieu to Test cricket last month, and a few days later, Virat bid his farewell to the format with a heartfelt note on Instagram. Rohit made his Test debut against West Indies in November 2013 and since then, Rohit featured in 67 Tests for India, scoring 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties, his best score being 212. He is the 16th-highest run-getter in the format for India.

After years of up and down performances, particularly away, the start of the ICC World Test Championship as a proper tournament revived his Test career as he went on to have a prolific run as an opener. In 40 Tests during WTC history, he made 2,716 runs at an average of 41.15, with nine centuries and eight fifties. His best score was 212. He is India's top run-getter, century maker in WTC history and overall at 10th among top run-getters.

Whereas, Virat first represented India in Tests against West Indies in 2011 and in the coming years, became the country's biggest ambassador for the longest format, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 in 123 appearances, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties. He is the fourth-highest run-getter for India in Tests. He also made a massive impact as India's most successful Test captain, winning 40 out of 68 matches, leading them to numerous iconic wins overseas. As a leader, he developed a massive roster of fast bowling talent for India and was an advocate for top-level fitness and inculcated in the team a "win at all costs" attitude and ability to take on their opponents head-on. (ANI)