Former English cricketer Michael Vaughan on Thursday (30th June) named Virat Kohli as the Indian player to watch out for. He said that if the right-hander crosses the 30-run mark, he will score a century.
The rescheduled fifth Test between England and India is just a few hours away from now. India is currently leading the series 2-1 and will be led by Jasprit Bumrah, who was named captain after Rohit Sharma failed to recover from the Covid-19.
There’s no doubt that eyes would be on Virat Kohli and he surely will have to step up for his side, especially with Rohit being ruled out and KL Rahul not being there.
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Kohli has not scored a century since 2019. The former Indian Test skipper has been failing to convert his starts into big scores after doing all the hard work. He also has been at the receiving end of criticism for not scoring a century for quite a while.
Many fans and pundits have raised concerns over his form and feel that his numbers in the last three years are not promising as per a player of his calibre. But in what was positive for the Indian side, Kohli looked in decent touch in a warm-up fixture against Leicestershire as he scored 33 runs in the first essay and followed it up with 67 in the second dig.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Michael Vaughan named Virat Kohli as the Indian player to watch out for in the Edgbaston Test against England. He said that the former Indian skipper is due for a century and if he crosses the 30-run mark he will achieve the milestone.
“The Indian player to lookout for at Edgbaston this week is Virat Kohli. Just go back a few years when he produced one of the greatest Test match centuries on this ground. I think he's due. When you look back, how long has it been since he got three figures.
“It's been a long, long while for Virat Kohli, if he can get to 30, I reckon he's gonna get those three figures that he's been desperately wanting for such a long period of time. So, Virat Kohli, the Indian player to look out for,” Michael Vaughan said.
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Vaughan said that Bumrah vs Jonny Bairstow will the key battle in the fifth Test. He said that both being on the top of their game will go hard at each other.
“The key battle at Edgbaston, Jasprit Bumrah is a world-class performer, playing against a player who is batting on a different planet, Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow will attack, he will try to score quickly. The strike rate against New Zealand was well beyond 100 and I think he will try and play exactly in the same vein against India so the key battle could be Indian skipper Jasprit Bumrah vs Jonny B,” he said.
Vaughan backed England to win the Test and said that team under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum will hammer India.
“Edgbaston, England on the back of three wins against New Zealand, I see nothing but an England juggernaut carrying on. India have had lots of turmoil with selection, injuries, COVID issues. I see nothing but an England win. I think this England juggernaut of Baz and Ben combination will carry on at Edgbaston. I see nothing but an England victory, it maybe a hammering,” he said.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
