“Maybe Virat feels that he has nothing more left to achieve. I think Rohit Sharma needed just one person to motivate him daily, for example, to go for a run at 5 AM,” he added. Yograj said that no senior is left in the Indian dressing room to motivate the next generation of players.

Just as India were set to announce the squad for next month's five-Test tour of England, selectors face a problem they had probably been preparing for but were probably not expecting to tackle so soon.

Gautam Gambhir is now the most influential figure in the Indian cricket setup. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's retirements, a new era begins. The focus shifts to nurturing young talent for the Test team.