“No, we’re not afraid of Virat Kohli!” These are the words of English cricketer Jason Roy which he uttered a few days before the 2nd England vs India Test at the Lord’s.
Roy, who played the limited-overs series against India and not a part of the Test side, gave a huge statement on the Indian captain during the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture on Monday.
He was accompanied with former cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar, Mark Nicholas and ICC CEO Dave Richardson. When asked by Mark whether they are afraid of Kohli, Roy immediately answered, “Not scared of him, no.”
“He's obviously a great player, and rightly so, you've given him such kind words. He's an extremely good athlete, an imposing batsman, an imposing figure on the field. We've got to find ways of dismantling him somehow, so we can't give him too much praise right here.”
Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, played a memorable knock at Edgbaston in the first Test against England. He waged a lone battle against the English bowling attack but the lack of support from the other end put the visitors at the receiving end.
Throughout the game, Kohli was the only riddle which the Englishmen found tough to solve. A century in the first innings and a fifty in the second itself proved the mettle of the Indian captain on the English soil.
The Indian cricket team lost the match by 31 runs but the skipper appreciated the way his boys played the games. Especially the tail-enders who showed character more than the top order.
The second Test will be played at the Lord's on Thursday. If India manage to pull out a victory, Kohli will become the third Indian captain after Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni to reach this feat.