![\"Rohit](\"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-91-1024x576.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIndia may be stepping into a new era under Shubman Gill<\/a>, but former England opener Geoffrey Boycott believes the void left by Virat Kohli will be much harder to fill than that of Rohit Sharma. Writing in his column for The Telegraph<\/em>, Boycott offered a detailed assessment of both retirements ahead of the high-profile India-England Test series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Known for his frank opinions, Boycott acknowledged Rohit Sharma\u2019s class but suggested his absence won\u2019t impact India as deeply as Kohli\u2019s. \u201cRohit was a superb batsman. At his best, a beautiful stroke player, but he won\u2019t be missed as much as Kohli because his Test record was good rather than exceptional,\u201d Boycott wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rohit, who opened the batting in Tests, enjoyed considerable success in home conditions but often struggled on seaming tracks abroad. Boycott believes England\u2019s swinging conditions would have been especially challenging for the 37-year-old. \u201cRohit was never a natural athlete like Kohli, and he knows that opening the innings in England can be pretty tough because the new ball moves around more. You really have to be up for the challenge to have any chance of success<\/a>,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite an impressive outing in India\u2019s previous England tour\u2014where Rohit finished as the highest run-scorer with 368 runs in four Tests\u2014his form declined sharply in the 2024\/25 season, failing to register a half-century during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This downturn contributed to his decision to retire from Test cricket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Rohit and Kohli announced their retirements from the longest format in May, just weeks before India\u2019s England tour. Boycott believes Kohli\u2019s exit could significantly affect India\u2019s chances in the five-match series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hurts the chances of India beating England. Kohli is the biggest loss as he has been their best batsman and talisman in all three formats,\u201d Boycott concluded.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The first Test of the series, marking the start of India\u2019s transition in the red-ball format, will begin on June 20 at Headingley in Leeds. On Wednesday, vice-captain Rishabh Pant confirmed that Shubman Gill will succeed Virat Kohli as India\u2019s new No. 4 in the Test XI, while Pant will continue to bat at No. 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, uncertainty remains over who will fill the crucial No. 3 position, with Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair emerging as the leading contenders for the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Geoffrey Boycott believes India will feel Virat Kohli\u2019s absence far more than Rohit Sharma\u2019s in the upcoming five-Test series against England. Geoffrey Boycott Says Filling Kohli\u2019s Shoes Will Be Tougher Than Replacing Rohit Sharma India may be stepping into a new era under Shubman Gill, but former England opener Geoffrey Boycott believes the void left […]\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[23,15,24,79,17,22],"class_list":["post-1443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket-news","tag-cricket-news","tag-e2bet","tag-online-betting","tag-rohit-sharma","tag-sports-betting","tag-virat-kohli"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1448,"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions\/1448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e2bet777.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}First Test begins June 20<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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