IND vs ENG: Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma retirements will hurt India in England, feel Matthew Hayden and Graeme Smith

Cricket Legends Foresee Challenges for India in England Test Series

Cricket legends Matthew Hayden and Graeme Smith have voiced concerns about India's prospects in the upcoming five-match Test series against England, which begins this Friday at Headingley. Both cite the presumed retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as significant blows to the team's experience. Shubman Gill is expected to lead India in the challenging English conditions.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

The Indian batting lineup will be noticeably less experienced following the perceived retirements of both Kohli and Rohit from Test cricket last month.

"I feel India are really going to struggle. Shubman Gill is a young captain coming to this hostile environment, seaming conditions, bouncing conditions. It's going to be a real challenge, it's actually absolutely the litmus test as a touring team," Hayden told the ICC.

"Generally touring teams come here and it is polar opposite conditions to what you are used to as fundamentally as a player, be it young or old. So lots of adjustments, so I predict that England, let me tell you, are a going to have a pretty good party at the end of that series," the former Australia opener added.

"England at home, they really do play well at home. They understand the conditions and get the best out of it. I think it's going to be a challenge for Shubman and his team, lost a lot of experience, got to come here and that pressure shifts onto different people..." Smith said.

"I think Bumrah is going to carry a huge amount of the bowling attack. So I think England will have the better of India in these conditions," Smith further stated.

The Indian team will also be without R Ashwin.

India's Test series victories in England have been infrequent, with only three successful campaigns in 1971, 1986, and 2007 since bilateral engagements began in 1932.