IND vs ENG: Rohit Sharma Switches to Red-ball Mode as he Starts Training for England Tests

India captain Rohit Sharma has switched to the red-ball mode having started training for the upcoming five-match Test series against England at home.

Rohit recently oversaw India’s 3-0 clean sweep of Afghanistan in a T20I series, scoring a record-breaking century in the third match after recording two ducks in a row.

Also Read: IPL 2024 Reportedly to Get Underway from March 22

The 236-year-old will be leading India squad in the Test series which starts from January 25 in Hyderabad.

Rohit’s IPL franchise Mumbai Indians has shared a series of pictures of him batting in the nets ahead of the series.

Rohit has scored 747 runs in 17 innings against England in Tests. He averages 49.80 with two centuries and three half-centuries.

At home, Rohit has scored 2,002 runs in 24 Tests while averaging an excellent 66.73. He has eight centuries and six fifties and a best individual score of 212.

Meanwhile, the Ben Stokes-led England, after an extended camp in Abu Dhabi, have arrived in India.

The tourists opted for training in the Middle East to prepare for the tough challenge instead getting acclimatised to the Indian conditions a tour game.

India will be without fast bowler Mohammed Shami for the first two Tests and possibly for the entirety of the series as he continues recovery from an ankle injury.

The hosts gave a maiden Test call-up to wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel in the 16-man squad led by Rohit.

The five-match series is part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship cycle.

Two-time WTC runners-up India started their campaign with a 1-0 Test series win against West Indies before touring South Africa where they returned by drawing a two-match series 1-1.

This will be their third assignment of the WTC cycle.

England hosted Australia for Ashes last year and bounced back after losing the first two Tests to end the series 2-2. This is their second series of the cycle.

India squad for first two Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Shubman Gill,  Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan