New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has expressed his excitement for the upcoming five-Test series against England, sharing a picture of himself donning a Test jersey on social media.

Pant took to X and posted his picture in Test whites with the caption, “Reporting for national duty.”

Pant, who made his Test debut in England in 2018, has played 12 games against England and scored 781 runs with a highest score of 146 which came in 2022 in Birmingham. Off the 12 games, he played nine on English soil, scoring 556 runs at an average of 32.70.

Pant, however, had struggled the last time India played Tests – in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In Australia, he played all five Tests and scored 255 runs at an average of 28.33, including just one half-century.

Team India touched down in the UK on June 7 and had wasted no time as they dived straight into intense training sessions, kickstarting their preparations for the five-Test showdown that marks the beginning of the 2025–27 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for both teams.

This series also signals the start of a new era for Indian cricket, following the Test retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Led by Shubman Gill, India will face England in the first Test of the five-match series at the Headingley Cricket Ground from June 20. The second Test will be played at Edgbaston from July 2 while the third Test will be held at the iconic Lord’s beginning on July 10.

Both India and England will later travel to Manchester for the fourth Test to be played at Old Trafford from July 23, before concluding the Test series at the Kennington Oval in London starting on July 31.

India are aiming to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2007.

–IANS

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