The former England captain and now a commentator, David Gower named India skipper Virat Kohli as the captain of his Test XI which features the likes of Joe Root and Steve Smith. He named Kohli in his initial picks to form a solid team.

Gower is impressed with Kohli and after his much-renowned ability with the bat, it's the India cricketer's passion for cricket which he likes the most. He rates Ben Stokes, the England all-rounder very highly as well.

He named India’s R Ashwin and Nathan Lyon of Australia as the current best spinners and one of them would make it into his line-up.

“Ben Stokes and Virat Kohli will be the instant picks for me and there are no two ways about it. If a current day spinner is to be chosen it would be between Ravichandran Ashwin or Nathan Lyon,” Gower said on the SportsTiger’s show ‘Off-the-Field’.

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“If I have to pick a captain for the team it will surely be Virat Kohli, what I like about Virat apart from his talent are his passion and absolute drive. Cricket is still a game where you can be a brilliant individual within the team but too much of individuality can also be harmful but Virat is an extraordinary individual contribution to the team.”

Root, Kane Williamson, Smith are also obvious picks for him from the current cricketers. They are among the best batsmen and a fierce competitor for each other.

Gower is happy with Kohli always being vocal about Test cricket. “Virat Kohli as the leading player of the world calling test cricket as the toughest and most important form is great PR for the format,” he said.