Virat Kohli will be desperate to make his own point: Nick Knight
Nick Knight believes Virat Kohli will look forward to returning as the Indian Test skipper against England. Praising Kohli for transforming Team India, the former English batsman feels the Indian captain would relish the chance to prove his doubters wrong in the upcoming series.
With Ajinkya Rahane masterminding the series win in Australia in Virat Kohli’s absence, several former players have suggested that the former should replace Kohli as the captain of the Indian Test team.
Discussing Virat Kohli’s captaincy on YouTube channel ‘Cricket Fables’, Nick Knight backed the Indian skipper to silence his critics against England.
"Virat Kohli coming back into the side, and a change of captaincy. I think what he's done for the side has been immense. The fighting spirit, the character that's been brought into the team unit. But he'll come back and he'll be desperate to make his own point with the bat and the captaincy as well," Knight said.
The pressure will be on Virat Kohli to help Team India reach the ICC World Test Championship final. In order to do so, the home team need to win the four-match series by 2-1 or a better margin.
Virat Kohli's record against England has been sublime since the disastrous show in 2014. The right-handed batsman, who averages 70.25 against the Englishmen at home, has three centuries to his name in nine Tests.
Knight warns Virat Kohli and co. against complacency
Following India's series win Down Under, Nick Knight warned Team India against complacency, suggesting it can go downhill quickly if they aren’t up to the task. Talking about England, the cricketer-turned-commentator feels the visitors have a chance if they make a good start in the first Test in Chennai.
"That day in Chennai, if you're not quite on it and your mind isn't quite there and if you're still thinking about the open-top bus, and that brilliant last day at the Gabba, England are a good side and they are going to get ahead of the game. So I think that's the challenge for India. If they're even slightly reliving what happened a week or two ago, on that first day in Chennai, [it's] England's best chance," Knight said.
The Indian team received a grand welcome after returning from Australia, and Nick Knight admitted that he was in awe of the reception the players got.
"After such an amazing high, and I saw all that reaction, I turned on the TV and saw the reception, homecoming, open-top buses, fans and crowds out there and rightly so,” Knight added.
The first of the four-match India-England Test series will start in Chennai from Friday.