Panesar Decodes Real Reason Behind Virat Kohli's Test Exit Before England Tour

Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from Test cricket last month, leaving a huge void in the dressing room.

Virat Kohli in test cricket for India.

Source : PTI

A probable lack of solution for his recurring struggles with the ball outside the off-stump prompted Virat Kohli to take retirement from Test cricket ahead of the England tour, feels former spinner Monty Panesar.

Panesar, who played 50 Tests and helped England to a rare Test series win in India back in 2012, reckons Kohli would have found it tougher to deal with the moving ball around the off-stump than his previous tours of England.

In 2018, Kohli had staged a stellar turnaround in England after a forgettable tour of 2014 when James Anderson got the better of him in the corridor of uncertainty.

"With Kohli, what has happened is that against the ball outside the off stump, the fifth stump line, especially in Australia on fast bouncy pitches he was struggling," the left-arm spinner told PTI.

"So he probably thought maybe the fact that in England it is going to swing a lot more, he'll probably hasn't worked out solutions in that corridor of uncertainty "And I think that's probably been one of the reasons why he thought to retire and put all his energy with RCB and ODI cricket for India." Panesar said that Kohli had the answers to bounce back in 2018 but to do the same at this stage of his career would naturally be much tougher.

"I think he's done very well as a cricketer in all formats. He has been a brilliant ambassador for Test cricket. He probably feels that he's done his best, he's achieved everything and probably feels like it's time for the youngsters to step up.

"It would a lot tougher for Kohli to repeat the same performances in 2018. Just simple fact that he's been struggling over the last 12 to 18 months with that ball outside off stump. He hasn't got a solution for that, you know problem that he has on fourth and fifth stump.

"So he's thinking it's better for Indian cricket to give youngsters a go and hopefully find the next superstar," said Panesar, who is commentating on the Saurashtra Pro T20 League.

Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from Test cricket last month, leaving a huge void in the dressing room. Shubman Gill will captain the team in transition, starting with five Tests in England beginning on June 20.

England can't afford to produce green tops. While India are not high on experience, England don't have a fearsome bowling attack in the absence of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, who might be fit for the second Test.

Panesar said it's even steven going into the first Test.

"It would be an interesting series. It would depend on how India plays the swinging ball. Do they attack? Do they defend? "It is going to be very warm, pitches are going to be flat. I don't think England would look to take home advantage. They will produce neutral pitches. They can't play Bazball on a seaming pitches. That will also play into the hands of Indian batters as they would like playing on flat pitches.

"ECB wants the games against India to go into the fourth and the fifth day. I don't think anybody wants three three-day Test matches in a five match series. So I think England are gonna nullify home advantage," said the 43-year-old.

Two spinners may come in handy at Oval and Manchester. England have named one spinner in their 14-man squad for the first Test, India have three options in Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav for the whole series.

"Jadeja is expected to play majority of the games. You can play two spinners at Old Trafford and Oval. The ball turns even in Birmingham. Sundar can be your second spinner," said Panesar.

Stokes takes more time to regain rhythm with bat than ball. Panesar is also eager to see how Ben Stokes does following his comeback from a long injury lay-off.

"His bowling is good, he can chip in with 10-15 overs. When you need a wicket he's the go-to guy. Stokes needs to be utilized and he's just coming back from an injury so I'm not sure if he's going to have the same impact with the bat like he has with the ball.

"I expect him to have more of an impact with the ball than the bat but as the Test series unfolds maybe his batting will go into shape. He finds his rhythm quicker with the bowling than batting," added Panesar. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)