India's men's cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir is back in Leeds, England, and has joined the team ahead of the first Test starting on Friday. Gambhir returned to India last week as his mother was hospitalized due to ill health. Gambhir left the team ahead of an intra-squad match in Beckenham and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate took over in his absence.

The tour is important for Gambhir as his coaching tenure has had a mixed start. Under his leadership, India won the Champions Trophy earlier this year. India lost five of their last eight Tests, including a historic clean sweep at home to New Zealand last year, knocking them out of the race for the WTC final. Now it remains to be seen how the team does against England.

This series under the new captaincy of Shubman Gill will mark the beginning of a new era in India's Test cricket, as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin have retired from the format in the last few months. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is now one of the senior members of this young squad and is part of the leadership group along with Gill, having been appointed vice-captain.

On Wednesday, Pant spoke about his friendship with the India captain and the rapport he shares with them on the field. "I think me and Shubman are very good friends off the field. If you are good friends off the field, it reflects on the field as well. This is something I have always believed in. We both get along very well with each other. We keep talking constantly and the comfortable atmosphere we share is going to be very special for us," Pant told reporters. The first Test will begin in Leeds on June 20.

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