Rohit Sharma, on the eve of his first Test as India captain, admitted that filling Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara’s shoes will be difficult to fill. The two were not included in India’s squad against Sri Lanka as the skipper said Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer will need to be backed for a solid run.

In Pujara and Rahane, India had an experience of 82 and 95 games. Sharma said that replacing them will be big shoes to fill in. 

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“Look these are big shoes to fill in. It’s never easy for the guys coming in. Even I don’t know who’s coming in place of Pujara and Rahane. So we have to wait till tomorrow morning to see who’s going to play,” Sharma said in a presser on Thursday. 

Ishan Sharma, with 100 plus games, is another Test veteran who will miss out. 

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“You can’t put it in words you know, years of hard work, playing 80, 90 Tests, respectively in all those overseas Tests, India getting to No.1, these guys helped us and played a massive part in that. So there’s no such thing that these guys are not being looked upon, and they will definitely be part of our plans,” the skipper said.

However, Sharma said that there is no ‘written guarantee that they will not be considered in future series or thereafter’. 

The skipper further addded that young players will have to be backed. 

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“Look whenever there are changes in the squad, there is always a fresh start for guys that are coming in. It’s never easy. Those guys (Iyer, Vihari) who are going to replace the two guys, have done exceedingly well whenever they have got an opportunity whether it’s first-class cricket back home or India A tours and limited opportunities that they have got playing Test cricket.” 

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“I think we need to back these guys to come good for us. At times, we need to look forward and those guys have been waiting for a while. So hopefully when they get an opportunity, they can turn things around for us.”

The first Test vs Sri Lanka will be a landmark one as it is Virat Kohli’s 100th and Rohit Sharma’s first as captain.