The status of Virat Kohli‘s comeback is still unknown, and in the first two Test matches of the India-England series, India skipper Rohit Sharma has struggled severely with the bat. In their current five-match Test series, England’s ace batsman Joe Root asserted that the visitors are cautious due to the threat posed by star Indian batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Root believes that England must make sure that Kohli and Rohit do not escape with high scores, given how important they are to the current Indian Test team. Although Jasprit Bumrah’s talent has already seen him dismissed twice in two Test matches, Root, who has struggled for runs in this series, stated that there are no team meetings in the England camp for any specific opposing player.
It would be nice to try and keep them as quiet as we can- Joe Root on star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
During the five-match series, Joe Root stated that England would be willing to keep the Indian legends quiet. Regarding Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Joe Root said the following on Jio Cinema:
“You mentioned two of the greats of the modern era. Of course, there’s going to be focus. We know how good they are and they are also very senior within this current Indian batting lineup. You want to make sure that you try and get on top of them early,”
Due to his request to be withdrawn from the team for personal reasons, Kohli hasn’t played in any of the first two Test matches in the series. Even still, England has managed to silence Rohit thus far, as the skipper of India has only scored 90 runs in four innings.
“They’ve got the ability to get big scores and we’ve been on the wrong end of that a few times, so it would be nice to try and keep them as quiet as we can throughout the series,” Root added.
Virat Kohli yet to confirm availability for the remaining test matches
Virat Kohli might not be able to participate in India’s next two Test matches against England, which are scheduled to take place in Rajkot and Ranchi, according to a report from ESPNCricinfo.
Former South African great cricketer AB de Villiers recently stated on his YouTube channel that Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma were expecting their second child, while the BCCI hasn’t formally disclosed the exact reason of his absence.
The report further stated that KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja are making good recovery from their ailments and are likely to play in the third Test, which is scheduled to start in Rajkot on February 15.
Given the lack of experience in the Indian batting lineup, the hosts will undoubtedly benefit greatly from the return of at least one of them. After winning by 106 runs in Visakhapatnam, they would want to capitalize as much as possible on their momentum.