Picture Credit: Twitter
Prior to the five-match Test series against England, the Indian team is already in the United Kingdom. While they had travelled to the country for their ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June, they stayed there owing to the quarantine requirements of the post-COVID-world. However, the team opted for a break after their defeat in the summit clash against the Kiwis and even experienced a bit of a Coronavirus scare with Rishabh Pant and another member testing positive for COVID-19.
Moreover, backup keeper Wridhhiman Saha has also been sent into isolation since he was in close contact with another COVID-positive member from the contingent. Amid all this, the Men in Blue have reunited at Durham for a warm-up game against a county side. Prior to the match beginning on July 20, opener Rohit Sharma has shared a few pictures of himself on social media. Moreover, he added with it a funny caption, declaring that he is back at work after the holidays.
"चलो भाई, छुट्टी खत्म… अब काम शुरू! ??," he captioned the post.
Check out the pictures here:
Sharma was last seen in action in the WTC final against New Zealand. Overall, the right-handed opener had amassed 64 runs in both innings- scoring 34 and 30. The Hitman was dismissed after getting set in both the innings and would be looking to not repeat the same mistake when the England Tests begin.
It should be noted that the team's last Test series win in English conditions came way back in 2007 when the Rahul Dravid-led side had tasted a 1-0 win in a series comprising of three Tests. Post that, India had a forgettable run in the 2011 season where they were whitewashed 0-4 and even though the MS Dhoni-led side manages a win at Lord's in 2014, they could not capitalise and suffered another 3-1 defeat. In 2018 again, Team India managed just a solitary win and suffered a comprehensive defeat.
Ahead of this series though, experts including Michael Vaughan and Monty Panesar have backed India to do well against England with Panersar suggesting India could even register a 5-0 win if the wickets assist the spinners.