Rohit and Virat exit leaves gaping hole for India's Tests vs England

Without Roko, Indian selectors must find batting replacements who can step up on the demanding tour

- Rasesh Mandani

MUMBAI: With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli calling time on their Test careers, India will go to England with a drastically inexperienced batting line-up. That is unless the selectors go back to Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. There's nothing to suggest they will deviate from their policy of looking at the future.

KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have played nine Tests in England before. Shubman Gill, who is tipped to become the new captain, has played three. While this sounds alarming, Indian cricket has been here before. Team transitions are constant. The last time India went on an overseas Test tour with a lightweight batting line-up was to South Africa in 2013.

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were dropped. Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar had retired. Only Murali Vijay and Pujara knew what the bounce and lateral movement in South Africa were like from a previous tour. Kohli was only 20 Tests old, Rohit had played two, Rahane one.

As it turned out, Pujara, Kohli and Rahane emerged as the leading scorers of the series. They would become the backbone of India's middle order for the remainder of the last decade.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and his committee would hope for a similar turn of events at this critical juncture—start of a new World Test Championship cycle.