"I’ve never been in competition with Virat"- Joe Root; says 'cricket is poorer without Rohit and Kohli being around'

Joe Root will be a crucial batsman for England in the upcoming five-match test series against India.

England Cricket Team‘s ace batsman Joe Root has reacted to facing the Indian Cricket Team in the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The right-handed batsman is part of England’s squad for the first test at Headingley in Leeds, scheduled to commence on June 20.

Kohli and Sharma announced their retirement from test cricket last month. They will only represent the national team in the ODI format henceforth. Following Sharma’s retirement, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Shubman Gill as the new test captain and Rishabh Pant as the vice-captain.

Gill and Pant will face a tough challenge against the hosts, England, in the five-match test series due to the dominance of the Ben Stokes-led side in home conditions. Moreover, Sharma and Kohli’s absence from the series is highly expected to affect the team’s batting department and leadership as they will lack experience.

I’ll miss those battles we had on the field – Joe Root

During a conversation on Sony Sports Network, former England test captain Root said that he has always admired Kohli’s batting in the test format. The veteran batter also added that test cricket will be poorer without legends like Kohli and Sharma.

“I’ve never been in competition with Virat. He is someone I’ve always admired, and thought, ‘Wow, what a player”. I’ll miss those battles we had on the field, but it provides opportunities for other players to try and put their mark on Test cricket.”

“Cricket is poorer without them being around. They are two Indian legends. They’ve done amazing things for Indian cricket for such a long period of time. It’ll be a slightly different look to the series, but we still expect it to be highly competitive,” Root further added.

Root will be a crucial batsman for England in the series against India. He has been in fabulous form in recent times. During the test series against Zimbabwe last month, Root became the first England batsman and fifth overall to cross 13,000 runs in the longest format of the game.

Meanwhile, the England vs India test series is the first series for both sides in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27. India’s tour of England 2025 will conclude the fifth test at The Oval in London, starting 4th August.

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