World No. 1 Test batter and England’s batting great Joe Root said he will “miss those battles” with contemporary Virat Kohli after the latter decided to put an end to his glorious red ball career for India.
“I’ve never been in competition with Virat. He is someone I’ve always admired, and thought, ‘Wow, what a player’. I’ll miss those battles we had on the field, but it provides opportunities for other players to try and put their mark on Test cricket,” Root said as quoted by Sportstar.
Team India will take on England in a five-match Test tour starting from the Headingley Test on June 20 in the absence of veterans Virat and , who both announced their retirements from the longest format last month.
“Cricket is poorer without them being around. They are two Indian legends. They’ve done amazing things for Indian cricket for such a long period of time. It’ll be a slightly different look to the series, but we still expect it to be highly competitive,” said Root.
India ace pacer is unlikely to feature in all five Tests, yet he will be a big threat for England, believes Root. “Every time he’s played, he’s had a huge impact. He is clearly going to be a big threat. We have to try and manage as best we can,” he said.
“You can’t single out individual bowlers. You have a plan for each every challenge and different bowler type. There will be times when he (Bumrah) is going to be hard work, and we’re going to have to work through that. And when we get opportunities to score, we’ve got to take it,” he added.
Kohli retired as India’s fourth-highest run scorer in Test cricket, having scored 9230 runs at an average of 46.85 in 123 matches. He scored 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries. His annual average never dipped below 55 in the four years between 2016 and 2019. Additionally, his calendar year average at the end of 2016 and 2017 were both above 75.
