Pant's 'garden' quip about Rohit amid India's arrival in England for Test series

The new-look Indian team, captained by newly-appointed red-ball skipper Shubman Gill reached England on Saturday ahead of their five-match Test series.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a video of players reaching to England, including skipper Gill, vice-captain Rishabh Pant, opener Sai Sudharsan, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammed Siraj, among others.

Signaling what players feel about their transition following Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's retirements from the format, Pant was seen hilariously saying, "Garden ki toh yaad aayegi". This referred to Rohit's hilarious comments while fielding, instructing his boys that "garden mein koi nahi ghoomega" during the home Test series against same opposition last year.

"Touchdown UK #TeamIndia have arrived for the five-match Test series against England #ENGvIND," posted BCCI.

https://x.com/BCCI/status/1931198777093943296

The series will be held from June to August 2025, with matches scheduled at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord's and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester.

This will be India's first bilateral Test series since both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket earlier this month. The team is undergoing a transition, with Shubman Gill taking over as captain and R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli stepping away from the longest format.

India has not won a Test series in England since 2007. To prepare, several Indian players had already arrived earlier to represent India A in warm-up matches against the England Lions. The rest of the touring party is scheduled to arrive in the UK on Friday.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Test series, India 'A' are currently playing a three-match unofficial Test series against the England Lions. The first match ended in a draw, while the second unofficial Test is set to begin on Friday, June 6, at the County Ground in Northampton. On Thursday, England announced their squad for the opening Test at Headingley.

The English side has seen several changes since their 4-1 Test series defeat in India last year. Veteran pacer James Anderson has retired, and players like Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes, and Ollie Robinson have been dropped.

India's Test squad for 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.

The English squad: Ben Stokes (Durham) - Captain, Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Sam Cook (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire). (ANI)

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