Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has spoken about Virat Kohli ahead of the first Test match starting at Headingley. Kohli announced his Test retirement heading into the series.
Virat Kohli's Test retirement shocked the entire cricketing fraternity, given the impact he had on Test match cricket overall. Certainly, he was an ambassador for Test cricket for the Men in Blue.
It was under Virat Kohli's captaincy that India were leading the Test series 2-1 in England before the fifth and final Test at Manchester was postponed. England managed to draw the series in 2022, but it was not before Kohli's captaincy became the talking point of the series.
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Test Cricket Was So Much Better Wen Virat Kohli Was Playing - Nasser Hussain
Speaking about Virat Kohli on Sky Sports ahead of the first Test, Hussain hailed Kohli as one of the defining forces of Test cricket. He said that Test cricket was better while Kohli was playing the format.
“Test match cricket is so much better when Kohli was playing,” Hussain said. “We will move on - we moved on from Gavaskar to Tendulkar to Kohli and maybe now to Gill. But Kohli added so much to this game of cricket" Husain said.
While speaking about Kohli, Nasser Hussain recalled the famous Lord's Test match from 2021, in which India registered a memorable victory. He spoke about Kohli's passionate pep-talk during the team huddle, in which he told his side to unleash “60 overs of hell.”'
- “He was in the huddle pointing at every Indian player, telling them to unleash hell on that England batting lineup. And they did. That side became a mirror image of Kohli - the feistiness of Siraj, Bumrah, Shami... in-your-face cricket.”
India Without Kohli, Rohit, Ashwin in Tests Since 2011
Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket after playing 123 Test matches and scoring 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. Kohli scored 190 in his last Test series against Australia. This is the first time India are playing without the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin in Test matches since 2011. Meanwhile, Sai Sudharshan is making his debut in the first Test with Karun Nair making a comeback after 8 years. England won the toss and opted to field first at Headingley.
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