ENG v IND 2018: Gautam Gambhir comes in support of Virat Kohli after James Anderson's verbal attack

India and England will clash each other for the first Test on August 1.

Virat Kohli in England back in 2014 | GETTY

The war of words started a week ahead of the first Test between India and England. While Indian skipper Virat Kohli claimed that he doesn't care about his performance as long as India wins, England pace spearhead James Anderson came up with a reply that would not please Kohli.

Anderson said the Indian captain is lying about his personal form and it does matter for him. He added that Virat is desperate to get runs in England. "It doesn't matter if he gets runs or not? I think he is telling lies there," he said.

Virat has found the support of the discarded Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir. The southpaw opined in an interview with Cricbuzz that Kohli doesn't have to prove anything as he is already in top 3 batsmen in the world.

"He can't put additional pressure on himself thinking that the last tour of England wasn't great. Important thing is that he has already proved himself to the world and is probably one of the top three batters in the world," Gambhir said.

Giving the example of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, he added that Kohli shouldn't think much about his past in England. "Someone like Ricky Ponting! He has only had one international hundred in India and people still call him a legend. You can't define someone if he has had just one bad tour.

He (Kohli) has already proved himself in different conditions, so he should not be thinking on the lines that he has to prove something on the English tour."

The 29-year-old doesn't have a stats worth flaunting in England like he has elsewhere. He has scored just 134 runs in 10 innings in England with a high score of just 39. The average of 13.4 doesn't suit by his name and he will surely look to get it better this year. But his statement has suggested he is more worried about team's win than bettering personal records. 

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 25 Jul, 2018

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