India vs England | Virat Kohli's self-confidence is his biggest strength, reckons Jason Roy

Kohli was the lone warrior against a strong arsenal of English pacers in the form of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran, and Ben Stokes as the rest of the Indian batsmen just didn’t show up for the first Test of the five match series. With scores of 149 and 51 in the two innings, Kohli successfully overcame his past record in England back when India toured the UK in 2014. That tour remains one of Kohli’s worst performances in the Indian outfit ever since he was promoted to the senior team as he averaged just 13 across five Test matches. 

But England batsman, Jason Roy, lauded Kohli’s self-belief which helped him turn in an impressive show in the first Test as he almost single-handedly kept India in contention for a win. 

“His self-confidence doesn’t dip, it takes a lot for that to take a beating. That makes him special. The other thing is his fitness. I think he’s the fittest, greatest batsman.

“Not scared of him, no. He’s obviously a great player, and rightly so, you’ve given him such kind words. He’s an extremely good athlete, an imposing batsman, an imposing figure on the field. We’ve got to find ways of dismantling him somehow, so we can’t give him too much praise right here,” said England batsman Jason Roy in a debate during the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture.

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar also marveled at how quickly Kohli has managed to establish himself as one of the greats of Indian cricket. His recent ton in England took his overall tally to 57 across all three formats of the game.

“Even among Indian greats now, he’s finding a special place. It’s amazing. You talk about dirty Varanasi waters, but Indian waters keep producing these kind of phenomenal batting talents, year after year, generation after generation,” Manjrekar said.

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