'Cricket is Poorer Without Them': Joe Root Breaks Silence on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's Test Retirement

India vs England: With two days to go for the start of the first Test at Headingley, the buzz is palpable and it is also evident that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would be missed. After captain Ben Stokes opined about the two Indian stalwarts, Joe Root did the same as he gave his two cents on it. Root also said that there is no competition between him and Kohli as fans reckoned there was. Root went on to lavish praise on Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The former English captain reckoned ‘cricket is poorer without them’. 

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‘Cricket is Poorer Without Them’ 

“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 said on Sony Sports Network. 

Gill in Charge

India's newly-appointed captain Gill knows that the spotlight would be on him in the absence of the two stalwarts. As per reports, Gill would be slotting into Kohli's preferred No. 4 slot. A couple of debuts are expected at Leeds as well. Sai Sudarshan and Abhimanyu Easwaran would be in line for a debut. It would be interesting to see how the pitch plays. 

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For both the sides, it will be the start of their new World Test Championship cycle and hence both sides would eye a good start as momentum would be important considering it is a five-match Test series.