India head coach Ravi Shastri has said Virat Kohli would be eager to show the ‘British public why he is the best player in the world’ when the Test series against England gets underway in Birmingham.
Virat Kohli is arguably the best batsman in the world right now. However, his performance in England four years ago was nowhere close to his current high standards.
In 2014, Kohli had arrived in England as one of the fastest rising youngsters. Not surprisingly, expectations were sky high from him.
However, Virat Kohli had failed miserably. He had scored only 134 runs from ten innings, as India lost the series 3-1. He scored 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6 and 20 in the five Tests and finished the series with an average of 13.40.
But Kohli’s batting has entirely transformed after that disastrous tour. He has scored heavily in all the parts of the world.
And Ravi Shastri is confident Kohli would be able to show the British people why he is the best in business.
“You tell me. Look at his record. I don’t have to spell out what he has done in the last four years. When you perform in that fashion, you are mentally at a different level as well. You are waiting for whatever test comes your way. Yes, he might have had an ordinary series when he came here four years ago. But four years down the line he is the best player in the world. And he would like to get out there and show the British public why he is the best player in the world,” Shastri told ESPNcricinfo.
Kohli had already proved himself in Australia and South Africa. During the tour of Australia in 2014-15, he had slammed four hundred in four Tests.
The India captain has since also scored six double hundreds including four in successive series. Against England in the five-Test series at home, Kohli scored 655 runs and led India to a 4-0 triumph. He was also in top form in South Africa, smashing 871 runs across formats. Virat Kohli was the leading run-scorer in the Tests and ODI series.
The five-match Test series against England would begin on August 1st at Edgbaston.