I would love to see Virat Kohli play for Durham, says Ian Botham

Virat Kohli had a bumper 2016

Former England legend Sir Ian Botham has heaped praise on Virat Kohli after the Indian skipper amassed 655 runs in the just concluded series against England.

Botham believed that both Kohli and Root are the best players in the world currently, and there is no reason why they cannot dictate terms in the world of cricket in the time to come.

"The two best players in the series have been Root and Kohli. They have almost the same record. One thing Virat will want to do is score runs in England. He averages 14 there. So he would want to put that right. He is a winner and wants to put that to bed. Similarly, Root has 11 fifties, but not many hundreds. So these two will be the stand out players in cricket for the next five years, but it's tough to say who is better, especially after a series in India. They will be number one and two," Botham was as quoted by India Today.

Also, the former Ashes hero who is also the new boss of English County, Durham said that if Kohli decides to play county cricket, he would do all that was possible to get the Indian captain play for Durham.

"As chairman of Durham, if he wants to come play for Durham, I can arrange that tomorrow. I would love him to come and play for Durham. I will definitely have a chat with him before I leave. I honestly don't know how we will fit it in his schedule. It's so packed. But it goes back to what I was saying that that's the kind of guy he is, he wants to dominate everywhere he goes. I would not be surprised to see him playing there, maybe for a month or so," Botham added.

Kohli had a forgettable series in England back in 2014 when he was given a torrid time by James Anderson. However, the Indian captain has made a lot of changes to his game and thus looks in far better shape to confront the seaming conditions in England.

The man himself has said that he would love to have a county stint before the next tour to England to get used the swing and seam of England.

James Anderson, the leading England fast bowler also questioned Kohli's modified technique and said that the Indian pitches take away many flaws which were previously exposed in England.