'Mixed feelings': Ashwin's wife reflects on India's new Test era without stalwarts like Kohli, Rohit and more

R Ashwin's wife Prithi Narayanan shares emotional social media post. (Photo: BCCI)

The Indian Test cricket team is undergoing a major transition in the ongoing five-match series against England. The first Test is taking place at Headingley, Leeds — the first time since 2011 that India are playing without star players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill is the new captain, leading the side in their first assignment of the new ICC World Test Championship cycle.

The last time India played a Test without these stalwarts was the 2011 Oval Test, when MS Dhoni was the captain. The current change comes in the wake of the recent retirements of Rohit, Kohli, and Ashwin. The transition had an emotional impact on Ashwin's wife, Prithi Narayanan, who shared a post on the morning of the first Test between India and England at Leeds.

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"Test match day for India and I woke up with many many mixed feelings :) have to find a different way to love it and unlearn the only way I knew to," Prithi wrote in an Instagram story.

Pujara and Rahane have not retired from the format, but they are no longer preferred in the national team. All of these players were instrumental in India's rise to the No. 1 spot in the Test rankings.

The new Test team of India has a mix bag of experienced players and young talent. Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the new generation backed by the experienced players like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and more. Rishabh Pant is serving as the vice-captain under Gill's captaincy and the new formation looks pretty aggressive on paper.

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In the first Test at Headingley, Leeds, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl first. For India, Sai Sudharsan was handed his Test debut, while Karun Nair made a comeback to the side after 11 years.