Virat Kohli's last tour of England saw India win two of the four Tests
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri called for the current Shubman Gill-led Test side to have one or few players to glare down at the opposition batters and keep them on their toes just like former skipper Virat Kohli did.
Shastri, who was the head coach when Kohli captained India during the 2021 tour of England, recalled the type of heat Kohli brought on the opposition as his bowlers hunted in packs for wickets and a victory.
Kohli had famously guided India to a victory as the fielding captain on the final day of the second Test at Lord’s. England were chasing a decent target of 272 runs and as the Indian team huddled up for the fourth innings, Kohli warned his men against being friendly towards the English batters and asked them ‘show hell’ for the next 60 overs.
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Kohli was in the opposition batters’ face, mouthing off to them and getting them riled up. He famously told a resisting James Anderson ‘This is not your backyard, Jimmy,’ which elicited a sharp reaction from the legendary pacer.
As a result, Mohammed Siraj claimed a match-winning 4-32 while Jasprit Bumrah got 3-33 while Ishant Sharma got 2-13 from his overs to propel India to a win by 151 runs.
India are in a similar situation against England at Headingley in the ongoing first Test. KL Rahul, much like his 129 in that game as an opener, has also scored a hundred in Leeds while India have close to 90 overs to claim 10 wickets.
Before the beginning of the final day, Shastri called for the current team led by Shubman Gill to have three men to mess with the batters just like Kohli alone.
“Someone has to do the Kohli job…and be in their faces. Someone has to be designated for the job. Probably not one, but three people. Kohli could do the job of three,” Shastri said while on broadcasting duty for the series.
Kohli retired as India’s most successful red-ball captain, winning 40 of his 68 Tests. Overall, the modern great played 123 Tests and scored 9,230 runs including 30 hundreds and 31 fifties.
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