“India will collapse” - Former England cricketer feels India will face tough challenge against England

Former England spinner and commentator Monty Panesar reckons the Indian cricket team will face a tough challenge against England in the upcoming five-match Test series, scheduled to start on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds.

With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announcing their retirements from the longest format of the game, the Indian batting looks a bit fragile and inexperienced, according to Panesar. For the same reason, he thinks Indian batters might stage a collapse.

“England will benefit from the fact that Virat and Rohit are not playing. Their experience could have been used for India. But they are inexperienced. What happens with inexperience?... How will India play against England? We know how England can play. It's possible that India will collapse,” Panesar told ANI via India Today.

Furthermore, Panesar talked about the new Indian Test captain, Shubman Gill. He asserted that with the new responsibility, Gill will achieve success. Notably, Rishabh Pant has been announced as Gill’s deputy for the England tour.

“I think Shubman Gill will be a good captain. I think he will bat well with responsibility,” he added.

The five-match Test series between England and India is scheduled to take place from June and August. Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord's and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester will host these matches.

India's Test squad for the England series

Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

England squad for the first Test against India

Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.

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