London, May 14: England pace great James Anderson feels India’s next generation of batters have the aggression and fearlessness to step into the “big shoes” of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the Test team.
Kohli and Rohit, legends of Indian batting, bid farewell to Test cricket within a week of each other. Having already stepped away from T20Is last year, the duo will now only feature in ODIs for India.
Kohli ended his inspiring run in the traditional format, scoring 9230 runs from 123 matches with 30 hundreds at an average of 46.85, while Rohit accumulated 4301 runs from 67 Tests at an average of 40.57 and has 12 centuries and 18 fifties to his name.
“Great players. Kohli, one of the greatest Test batters that’s ever been,” Anderson said on ‘talkSPORT’.
The twin retirements mean India will not only have a new captain at the helm but will be without two of their most experienced players.
“There will be a new captain because Sharma has retired, There’s big shoes to fill there but they’ve got a huge amount of talent in their squad,” Anderson added.
Anderson praised the new crop of Indian batters for their attacking mindset.
“You just have to watch the IPL. They are bringing players into Test cricket from the IPL now who are just so attacking, aggressive, and fearless,” he said.
England are scheduled to host India for a five-match Test series starting June 20, which is also the beginning of the 2025-2027 World Test Championship cycle.
England will head to Australia for the marquee Ashes series later this year.
Anderson, however, warned against looking too far ahead and underestimating India.
“It’s a huge year (for England) with the Ashes coming but it is important to get some momentum going.
“If I’m being honest, looking back at my career, that happened too much where, 18 months out from an Ashes the management and even the players starting to look towards that and actually forgetting what’s in front of you,” said Anderson, who has 704 wickets from 188 Test matches and 269 scalps from 194 ODIs.
“India is going to be such a tough challenge even at home. They are a strong side,” said Anderson. (PTI)
