Off to England with hopes high

India captain & coach back bowling attack and batting unit to thrive during Test series

- GOMESH S @ Chennai

"OVERWHELMING" is how Shubman Gill described when he first got to know about the possibility of becoming India's Test captain. It is understandable considering about 12 months ago Gill was almost dropped from the Test team. He was, in fact, left out of the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne last year.

Indian cricket has hit the fast forward button since the 3-1 drubbing they received Down Under, conceding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. R Ashwin retired mid-tour, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have called it a day in the longest format and Gill is the new India men's Test captain. On Thursday, he was at the BCCI headquarters, alongside head coach Gautam Gambhir addressing the media before leaving for England for the five-Test series.