Graeme Swann reveals England’s pre-match plans for Virat Kohli: India is set to face England in a five-match Test series, marking their third assignment in the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for 2023-25. The series kicks off on January 25 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The spotlight will be on star Indian batsman Virat Kohli, known for his outstanding record against the English team in the longest format of the game.
Remarkably, England holds the distinction of being the last team to defeat India in a Test series at home, achieving this feat in 2012-13.
Graeme Swann reveals England’s pre-match plans for Virat Kohli
Recently, the former England off-spinner, who played a pivotal role in that historic victory by being the joint leading wicket-taker of the series with 20 wickets, disclosed insights into England’s pre-match discussions concerning Virat Kohli. Swann revealed that the team had been advised not to engage in a verbal battle with the Indian batsman as he thrives on it.
“We had been told beforehand to not say anything to this bloke because he absolutely revels in a battle in the field. Steven Finn got driven for a couple of incredible fours and he lost the plot and had a go at him and realised his mistake straight away,”
He added: “Virat roared up like a tiger and Finn just doubled down and got smashed everywhere. We knew what he could do in the white-ball format, but back then he hadn’t really done anything in Test cricket,”
In a notable series, Kohli scored 188 runs from seven innings, highlighted by a brilliant 103 in the fourth Test in Nagpur, which ended in a draw. Leading the team in the subsequent Test series, he emerged as the top run-scorer with an impressive 655 runs from eight innings.
Noteworthy is Kohli’s success against the Dukes ball in the 2018 England tour, where he accumulated 593 runs in ten innings at an average of 59.30, including two centuries and three half-centuries. As he enters the upcoming series, the Delhi-born batsman, in excellent form across all formats in 2023, aims to continue his dominance against England.
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