ENG vs IND 2018: Virat Kohli would have been part of my side, says Clive Lloyd

India are currently trailing in the Test series.

Kohli scored his first ton in England at Edgbaston. (Getty)

Former World Cup-winning Windies skipper in a recent chat with TOI spoke about his concerns for the diminishing impact of Windies cricket, Virat Kohli and much more. 

Lloyd started by keeping his concerns regarding the current Windies cricket team saying  "It made me really sad sometime back when I saw players like Chris Gayle and Andre Russell playing franchise cricket at a time when the national team was in action. In fact, I sincerely believe that no one can be a legend playing T20 cricket. To attain that status, it's imperative that you play for the country."

Next he spoke about the Windies team which he led saying " Yes, that was a fantastic side, but let me tell you, it was a difficult job leading that team. West Indies, unlike England, Australia, India or Pakistan, is not one country. It's a number of islands with different cultures. So the most difficult part of the job was to bring them together and give them the feeling that everyone is playing for the same team. It was a difficult job, but I enjoyed doing it."

He then highlighted the amalgamated cricket cultures between Windies and the Indian cricket team.  "Probably you are right, but still they are playing under the flag of one country. When I was playing I had seen five different Indian captains - Tiger Pataudi, Ajit Wadekar, Bishan Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. They had their own distinctive styles. I found Bedi quite good. In recent times, it has to be Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. Dhoni was such a fantastic captain you had. He was quite inspirational, a good tactician and led the team with a lot of authority. I liked his style of captaincy."

Virat Kohli, the Indian captain is having a tough time in the Test series as his team is trailing in the Test series. India did not have the best of starts at Lord's in the second Test as they were bundled out for 107 in the first innings. Lloyd said on Kohli " I think Virat is still a work in progress and it will take us some time to take a final call on his captaincy. But yes, he has shown positive signs. Yes, he is aggressive, but as long as he doesn't cross the line, it's fine by me. Aggression, after all, is not a bad thing."

The former Windies skipper than spoke about James Anderson who he said would also make his side. "Oh yes, why not? He is a terrific swing bowler and right up there with the best in the business. There's a reason why he has got a such a huge number of wickets and I have always enjoyed watching him."

He concluded his interaction by keeping his views on the Test series.  "It was a terrific first Test (in Birmingham) and even though England won, it was a superb contest. In fact, you can say India could also have won the game and I hope it continues to be this competitive."

(Inputs from TOI)

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 11 Aug, 2018

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