New Delhi: Shubman Gill-led Indian team arrived in London on Saturday ahead of the all-important five-match Test series against England starting on June 20.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted the video of team arriving in London on its social media accounts. “Touchdown UK. Team India have arrived for the five-match Test series against England,” the BCCI captioned the post.
Jasprit Bumrah, Gill, Arshdeep Singh, Rishabh Pant and Prasidh Krishna were in all smiles during the travel. The squad looked charged-up and upbeat for the long tour on English conditions.
Before departing the country, newly-appointed Test captain Gill reflected on the challenges of playing without stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli following their retirements from the format last month.
“I think there is pressure every time you play and match or start a tour. As such, there is pressure ahead of every series, but there would not be any extra pressure. Rohit and Virat are very experienced players, and it is very difficult to fill the space, but as a team, we have a lot of experience, and we have played a lot of matches,” said Gill at the pre-departure press conference in Mumbai on Thursday.
“The players and the team are all used to the pressure. We are not that inexperienced players. The batting and bowling combination in our team is very good,” said the India Test captain.
Gill also talked about his first reaction when he got the news that he would be India’s new Test captain and said they have not decided what position he will bat in. He has opened in the previous tours and has also batted at No.3. But with Rohit not there, the team management has to also take a call on who will partner Gill if he decides to open, Yashasvi Jaiswal or Abhimanyu Easwaran, the Bengal opener who is yet to debut.
“Firstly, when I came to know that I would get an opportunity like this, at the beginning, it was very overwhelming. It was quite overwhelming with the whole experience. But having said that, I think it is a big responsibility. And looking forward, there is a great chance that we will be presented first. And we haven’t really decided on the (batting) position yet. We still have some time. We have a spot match in London. So, we still have time to decide on the batting order,” said Gill.
India are aiming to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2007. The Test series in England will also be India’s first assignment in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle.
(IANS)
