Former England National Cricket Team pacer Steve Harmison has made a bizarre claim about the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the Indian dressing room.
Steve Harmison said that the Indian dressing room is a “little bit easier to be in” without the modern-day batting greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who recently retired from Test cricket.
India to start new WTC cycle without several legends
Team India will start the new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship without some of the veteran players. Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Virat Kohli have retired from Test cricket, while Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been dropped.
Your daily dose of cricket!
The aforementioned players played a vital role in the success of India over the years in red-ball cricket, and their absence will be felt when India start the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle against the England National Cricket Team.
Shubman Gill will lead an inexperienced team in the Test series against England, which will start at Headingley in Leeds on Friday, June 20.
Speaking ahead of the series, Steve Harmison said that the English team will have a mental edge over the Indian team in the upcoming series.
“I think it gives (England) a mental boost to have no Rohit Sharma and no Virat Kohli. I think even though the two great players possibly weren’t the great players they were five to ten years ago, the sight of Virat and Rohit being on a team sheet still holds a lot of weight. So with no great players as those two in the starting eleven, that also sometimes galvanises the team,” said Harmison in a conversation with IANS, organised by talkSPORT.
When great players go out of the team, it makes the dressing room easier to be in – Steve Harmison
Steve Harmison also made a bizarre statement, asserting that the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will make the Indian dressing room an easier place to be in. He, however, backed England to win the Test series. He said:
“When great players go out of the team, sometimes it makes the dressing room a little bit easier to be in because you’ve now got somebody that’s going to go out there and score all the runs for you. You’re going to have to take some responsibility yourself. So that’ll be the challenge from the India team’s point of view.”
“From an England point of view, they’re not seeing those great players. Yes, it will give them a boost, but it’s still going to be a very, very strong India side to play against. I’m expecting a close series, but I think England are favourites because this series is in England.”
So it wouldn’t surprise me if Man of the Series is a bowler – Steve Harmison
Harmison further predicted that a bowler would win the Player of the Series award in the India vs England Tests, where a lot of terrific batting performances will be seen. He elaborated:
“Though it will be a great series, and showcase a great spectacle of batting units who will play very aggressively and look to entertain, I think the bowler that stands up on either side will be the one who wins the series.”
“So it wouldn’t surprise me if Man of the Series is a bowler because they will be the difference between the two sides, who have very, very aggressive batting units and want to score. But I think the class of bowlers will stand out – whether it’s Woakes, Carse, Bashir in the first Test match or my eyes, Thakur, Bumrah, Krishna, and Siraj, they’re the Indian bowling unit for me – the ones that are going to try and win that first Test match to get either side off to a good start.”
Also Read: Ben Stokes says England don’t fear Jasprit Bumrah, doubts his ability to win India the series
