Rohit Sharma Looks Forward to Competitive Series on England Tour

India's Test and ODI skipper, Rohit Sharma, is looking forward to what he describes as a "good challenge" as the national team embarks on a tour of England after the end of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL).

The eagerly awaited five-match Test series gets underway on June 20 at Headingley, where India will look to break their enduring wait for a series win in England — a feat they last achieved in 2007.

Looking back on their last match against England, Rohit honestly spoke with Michael Clarke on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast. "Absolutely, last time we played these guys, it was 2-2 in the series. Yeah, we need some of these guys to be 100% fit. We'll have a great series, and I know the kind of cricket these guys are playing these days. It'll definitely be a good challenge for us," he said.

Rohit enters the England tour with increased expectations and pressure, particularly following a forgettable series in the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The talismanic batter scored only 31 runs in four games, having sat out the first and the final fifth Test. He opted to miss the series finale, citing a loss of form, which saw Shubman Gill being called into the team. India went on to lose that Test by six wickets.

Elucidating on why he did not play in the last game, Rohit had this to say about the reasoning behind the difficult decision. "I needed to be truthful to myself – I wasn't batting well, and I did not want to play for the sake of playing. Some other guys were struggling too, and we wanted Gill to play badly. He is such a talented player and had also missed the last Test, so we felt that he must get a go.".

I mean, I was like, okay, if I'm not playing well, there's no use trying to force it. I had a word with the coach and the selector, who was touring too, and they sort of agreed, sort of didn't.".

"You attempt to put the team first, consider what the team requires, and make that decision. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, that's the way it goes. Every decision you make, there's no success guarantee or that it's the correct one. You simply do what's best for the team," Rohit supplemented.