"Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's retirements will lead to a brighter future for Team India"- Shreyas Iyer's right hand

The India National Cricket Team is all set to begin a new era under Shubman Gill in England without two of their greatest batters, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who announced their retirement from the longest format of the game last month.

As India is set to face England in a five-match Test series, starting on June 20 in Leeds, legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has shared his views on the young team’s Test journey without the iconic batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and their replacements in the lineup.

Ricky Ponting predicts a smooth transition as India begins a new era after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's retirement

Ponting has acknowledged how tough it will be for the India National Cricket Team to fill the massive gaps left by Rohit and Kohli in Test cricket. But the former Australian captain believes that they are better prepared than most nations to handle this transition.

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Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying by The ICC Review, “It's always very hard to replace players like that that have been around for so long that have played that much Test cricket. But if any country can do it and do it quickly, India can because of the amount of young talent that they have.”

With a long list of talented youngsters already shining on the big stage like the IPL, the Punjab Kings head coach is confident that India has the depth and skill to move forward without slowing down.

He cited the example of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who’s made an instant impact in international cricket, as proof that the future is already for the Indian side.

Ricky Ponting says India will miss Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's experience

The legendary cricketer further noted, “I've seen it firsthand for 10 years now around the IPL, and we've seen the emergence of Jaiswal and these sorts of guys that have come into international cricket with India and done really well pretty much straight away.”

However, Ponting warned India about the real challenge, and that is the experience they are going to miss after Rohit and Virat Kohli’s retirement.

However, he feels KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah will help the next generation to move forward during this transition phase.

He further explained, “The skill side of it's one thing to replace, and I think India will replace the skill side of it easily enough, but the experience is the big thing that's going to be missing for them. So now, even with a young captain in Shubman Gill, they'll still have some experience around with KL Rahul, Bumrah, and these sorts of guys.”

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India can handle transition better than anyone: Ricky Ponting

In the end, the three-time World Cup winner reiterated that if any team can rebuild quickly and successfully after losing two modern greats, then it’s India.

Ponting signed off by saying, “But I think if you look at a rebuilding sort of phase, I think India can cope with it better than most other teams.”

Notably, since making his Test debut, Virat Kohli has played 123 matches and scored 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. He has hit 30 centuries, including 7 double hundreds and 31 fifties.

On the other hand, Rohit has played 67 Test matches and scored 4301 runs at an average of 40.57. He has 12 centuries and 18 fifties, with his highest score being 212, to his name.