Virat also has a good record against the English side with a total of 1991 runs in 28 Tests at an average of 42.36 and a strike rate of 52.06. The former India captain has also been in fine form of late and was India’s highest run-scorer in the recently concluded two-match Test series in South Africa.

Also Read | Virat Kohli ‘has got a big ego..’: England’s pacer Ollie Robinson comments ahead of Test series

Ahead of the crucial 5-match Test series, former England cricketer Monty Panesar has some advice for Ben Stokes and Co. Panesar suggested that the England players should engage in mind games with Kohli and play with his ego. Panesar also suggested that the English players should taunt Kohli with the phrase “chokers” because Stokes has won the T20 and ODI World Cups and Kohli hasn’t.

Speaking to India.com, Panesar said,”Play with his ego and get psychologically stuck into him. They should also say things to him like, you guys are chokers when it comes to the final. They should sledge him on those lines because Stokes has won the ODI and T20 WC and Kohli has not and that is going to mentally pinch him,”

Squads:

England Test squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root and Mark Wood.

Indian Squad for the first two Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan.

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Published: 21 Jan 2024, 03:31 PM IST