Mumbai, May 15 -- With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli calling time on their Test careers, India will go to England with a drastically inexperienced batting line-up. That is unless the selectors go back to Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. There's nothing to suggest they will deviate from their policy of looking at the future. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have played nine Tests in England before. Shubman Gill, who is tipped to become the new captain, has played three. While this sounds alarming, Indian cricket has been here before. Team transitions are constant. The last time India went on an overseas Test tour with a lightweight batting line-up was to South Africa in 2013. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were dropped. Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar had retired. Only Murali Vijay and Pujara knew what the bounce and lateral movement in South Africa were like from a previous tour. Kohli was only 20 Tests old, Rohit had played two, Rahane one. As it turned out, Pujara, Kohli and Rahane emerged as the leading scorers of the series. They would become the backbone of India's middle order for the remainder of the last decade. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and his committee would hope for a similar turn of events at this critical juncture - start of a new World Test Championship cycle. Two key players whose batting positions the selectors would need to firm up are Gill and Rahul. Gill began his Test career as an opener, until dropping to No.3, a position of his choice. The one-down spot opened up once Pujara lost favour. The No.4 position never came into consideration for Gill as it was Kohli's batting number. Would that change now? However, Gill has spoken about his liking to face the new ball and being used to bat at No.3 from his time in domestic cricket. Rahul has been the selectors' all-weather resource. It's about time he is given stability and an opportunity to give wings to his underwhelming, stop-start Test career. While he has batted all over the place in ODI cricket, in Tests Rahul has mostly been an opener. Given that's where he delivered some of his most noteworthy innings on the last tour of England in 2021-22, he would be an ideal fit to accompany Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top. If Gill and Rahul hold their number, with Jaiswal they would make the top 3 with Pant coming in at 5. That would leave the selectors to find an unfancied name to step up to No.4. It would be real-time audition for a batting position so special, Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli having been the last two occupiers of the slot. The home series against England last year was the first time in a long while when the selectors were forced to trial options after Kohli skipped the series for personal reasons. Rajat Patidar flopped, but the Madhya Pradesh and RCB captain's range of strokes still has admirers in the selection committee. A hand injury suffered in IPL, from which he is yet to fully recover, though has complicated matters. Karun Nair, 33, is a familiar name, even to the English camp. His revival in fortunes with an 863-run Ranji Trophy season, big runs in Vijay Hazare ODIs and quick runs in IPL make him a big contender to earn a comeback. Then there's Shreyas Iyer, who is in good white-ball form. But those sitting in judgement have high hopes for Dhruv Jurel, who is seen as a back-up wicketkeeper as well as a potential middle-order option. To go back to Iyer or keep faith in Sarfaraz Khan - he didn't get a Test in Australia - for the middle order and Abhimanyu Easwaran as opener is a crucial call the selectors have to make. Sarfaraz scored 150 during the 0-3 home series loss to New Zealand that preceded the Australia tour. Easwaran too was picked for Australia following his domestic grind but didn't get to play. It is important that if they are picked again - both are set to be picked for India A - head coach Gautam Gambhir sees them as viable options during the five-Test series starting on June 20. Tamil Nadu opener Sai Sudharsan, 23, is known to have been marked as a long-term prospect. He would have made his Test debut ahead of Devdutt Padikkal last year if not for an untimely injury. The left-hander, who has county experience with Surrey, has been among runs in IPL with Gujarat Titans and is expected to be selected. Whether Sudharsan starts depends on the batting order Gambhir and the selectors have in mind. The other option is for Gill to slot into No.4 and Sudharsan to bat at No.3. Or Rahul can bat at four and Jaiswal and Sudharsan open. All these permutations will be discussed as the selectors search for options to fill the void left behind by India's two batting heroes....