India vs England | Wasim Jaffer believes Virat Kohli will succeed in England

In 2014, Kohli had struggled to get going and managed only 134 runs in five Tests, one of the worst Test performances of his career. It has been a blot on his stellar career to this day, even though he scored 655 runs in five Tests against England in the home series (2016-17) to lead his side to a 4-0 win. Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer was confident that captain Kohli would put his last poor outing in England behind him and would score runs this time around.

"Though they'll miss Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in the initial games, India have the pace attack to take 20 wickets. They have quality batsmen too. I am sure Virat Kohli will succeed in England this time - he's far too good a player to fail here again. Since that tour in 2014, he's played all over the world and done brilliantly. The only thing he needs to be careful about is that he needs to play the ball late, and close to his body. He shouldn't play the ball away from his body, something which you can afford to do in India once you're set. In England, the ball moves around even after you're set, so he should avoid those expansive drives," Jaffer wrote in his column for TOI. 

Kohli has scored 301 runs in six limited-overs innings on this tour at an average of 60.2. The visiting skipper's two half-centuries in the ODI series, 75 in Nottingham and 71 in Leeds, showing his ominous form. England pace spearhead James Anderson has an outstanding record against Kohli, having dismissed him four times in six innings during the 2014 tour. Overall, in Tests, Anderson has dismissed Kohli five times going back to 2012. However, Jaffer pointed out that the English bowling attack has been too dependent on Stuart Broad and Anderson and they don’t have the depth in their bowling department. 

"I would say that India are the favourites going into this series, but they'll have to play smart cricket. They have all the ammunition to beat England. The hosts didn't do well at the start of the season against Pakistan, and are under pressure. In bowling, they depend too much on James Anderson and Stuart Broad. If both struggle, they don't have another 'go to' bowler. Unlike in the past, where they had a Monty Panesar or a Graeme Swann, they don't have a quality spinner to trouble the Indians," Jaffer wrote.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik scored an aggressive 82 not out on the opening day of their three-day tour-match against county side Essex on Wednesday. Karthik smashed as many as 14 fours from 94 deliveries to remain not out on 82. Karthik stitched 114 runs with KL Rahul for the sixth wicket to take India's score past the 300 mark. Jaffer stated that he was happy for Karthik and pointed out that he would have an important role to play in England. 

"I'm very happy for Karthik, who was my opening partner in that 2007 tour. If he gets runs, then India will get a valuable batsman at No. 6. Having been an opener, he knows how to play the second new ball. I hope he grabs this opportunity. Apart from him, I expect Hardik Pandya to play a very, very important role. If he stays fit, he can play the role of a third seamer and a destructive No. 7 bat," Jaffer said.