England Test vice-captain Ollie Pope has poked Indian team and stated that the new Test captain Shubman Gill is a fantastic player, the visitors will surely miss Virat Kohli and the aura he carries in the upcoming five-Test series that begins on June 20.

Virat Kohli, along with Rohit Sharma, retired from Test cricket in May, and Shubman Gill was named the new captain of the Indian Test team. India will be touring England, where they have not won a Test series since 2007, with a lot of new faces in the batting lineup.

Since 2018, India has not lost a Test series to England. They tied the series 2-2 away from home in 2021–2022, defeated England 4-1 at home last year, and defeated them 3-1 at home in 2021.

In an effort to discover and develop new superstars, India begins a new World Test Championship cycle under the leadership of head coach Gautam Gambhir and new captain Shubman Gill, marking the beginning of the post-Kohli-Rohit-Ashwin era.

Ollie Pope, who believes India will definitely miss having their most successful captain in the UK, and is not devastated that Virat Kohli is not in England. Pope has no concerns about the fresh talent that has been added to the Indian team. Ultimately, though, Virat Kohli is the only Virat Kohli.

"It's a young team, but these Indian players… they have got so much depth and talent. So they've got a lot of young guys coming through; a lot of good players. Shubman Gill, their new captain, is a fantastic player. They will miss the aura of Virat Kohli standing at slips and chirping away. But they have got some good talent, so they will feel confident. But our players are ready for it," Pope said during an interaction with talkSPORT cricket.

Pope claims that having a team like India tour is a great way for England, who haven't played a top-tier Test side in the past 12 months, to be ready for the main event later this year: the Ashes in Australia. He is not, however, committing the error of viewing the series against India as an afterthought.

"It's a great time for us to play India. Last summer, we had the West Indies and Sri Lanka, but with India coming over, the level of quality that they will bring is a great way for us to focus on that and not look ahead. So yeah, for us, it's the perfect time to play India, and then once the Ashes come around, it will be exciting," Pope pointed out.