Indian Test team prepares for life without Kohli, Rohit as training resumes in UK for England Tests – WATCH

The Indian Test team has begun preparing for a new life without their two stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who announced their Test retirement early last month, resuming training shortly after landing in the UK. As India faces England across five Tests, beginning June 20 in Leeds, they have started to get into the rhythm with their first indoor practice session.

Several members of the 18-man squad had already arrived in the country to link with the India-A squad for their shadow tour (against England Lions); the remaining ones, however, led by the new leadership in captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir, landed in the UK early on Saturday (June 7), experiencing no buzz (at the airport) around the marquee series.

Despite that, there was no loss of camaraderie and joy within the group that resumed training indoors ahead of the Test series. While the India-A squad, consisting of a few first-team players, including KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal, among others, are busy playing their second warm-up game in Northampton, those who joined later turned to light closed-door activities to get back to finding rhythm.

In a video shared by the BCCI on its social media handles, titled ‘First sight of #TeamIndia getting into the groove in England 😎’, Rishabh Pant and the new skipper Gill are seen walking towards the gate of the iconic Lord’s Cricket Stadium in London. Fast forward a few seconds, the players were doing light exercises, with ace quicks like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Prasidh Krishan hogging all the limelight. Head coach Gambhir was also seen talking to the group, while the seasoned all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was recorded training with the team.

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Meanwhile, India-A will play an intra-squad game with the senior team starting June 13 before the action gets underway at Headingley a week later.

No Virat and Rohit

Midway through IPL 2025, both star cricketers announced their Test retirements, shocking the cricket world. Although Rohit’s announcement did not come as a shocker as fans were expecting his departure sooner rather than later, Kohli hanging up his boots in Tests broke the internet.

Their departure forced the selectors to name a new Test captain in Gill, alongside picking a relatively younger squad for the away England tour.

Moreover, seamer Mohammed Shami’s absence added salt to the injury, with the selection committee naming uncapped quick Arshdeep Singh as his backup. They also brought back batter Karun Nair while handing a debut Test call-up to domestic and IPL sensation Sai Sudharsan.

Here is India’s Test squad for the England series –

Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), 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 and Kuldeep Yadav