Veteran England spinner Graeme Swann believes world cricket needs a strong team Virat Kohli As he backed the former Indian captain to put in his best soon. Kohli is going through a lean phase as his last international century came in 2019.
The former Royal Challengers Bangalore captain also had a stellar performance in the IPL this season as he scored 341 runs in 16 innings which included two half-centuries.
However, the stray Indian batsman scored a brilliant half-century in the practice clash against Leicestershire. Kohli, who has been tolerant of a lean patch for a long time, decorated his innings of 67 runs with five fours and two sixes. The 33-year-old was very calm and composed during his knock but lost concentration and tried to direct the ball to the point backward, where he was caught and lost his valuable wicket to Jasprit Bumrah, representing Leicestershire.
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News18 CricketNext’s query answered in select media interactions organized by Sony Play Network, Swann advised Kohli to follow in the footsteps of Root, who has been in fine form since stepping down as England’s Test captain.
“What, I think you really expect Virat Kohli to come out and batsmen like Joe Root are doing it at the moment. Root is no longer the captain and he is thriving again as a batsman.”
Root has been in excellent form for England in the New Zealand Test series as he has been the highest run-scorer for his team. England are currently leading the series 2-0 and are on the verge of a clean sweep as they need 113 runs to reach the target of 296 on the final day.
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Swann further said that he loves watching Kohli bat but is hopeful that Kohli will return to form after the England Test.
“I want to see that from Virat Kohli, maybe not in this Test match, but definitely looking forward after this tour. I love watching him play, a strong Virat Kohli is what world cricket needs,” Swann said.
Meanwhile, the Indian Test team will take on England in the fifth Test remaining from last year’s tour, which was postponed after several COVID cases were reported at the visitors’ camp.
(Watch live coverage of the much-awaited fifth Test match between England and England) India Sony Six (English), Sony Ten 3 (Hindi), and Sony Ten 4 (Tamil and Telugu) channels from July 1 at 3:30 pm IST.)
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