Virat Kohli needs to bring the best out of his players, asserts Sourav Ganguly

As India lost the fifth Test against England at the Oval, Indian skipper Virat Kohli came under the scrutiny of many, who questioned his man-managing skills. The loss at The Oval was India's fourth loss in the five-match Test series in England. Although KL Rahul (149) and Rishabh Pant (114) tried to control the situation in the second innings, India lost the last Test by 118 runs.

Commenting on India's defeat in England, Ganguly advised Kohli to recognize the talent of his players and explore it. The Indian bowlers managed to deliver the goods in the series as the English batsmen struggled against the pace bowling attack comprising Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. In the batting department, Cheteshwar Pujara scored a hundred in the fourth Test while Ajinkya Rahane got two fifties in the England series.

“More than post-mortem, it is important to recognise talent here. It is important for every team to move forward. I believe that the kind of batting that the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rahane and Rahul have done in this series, they are 10 times better cricketers. Kohli needs to bring the best out of his players. It is a big responsibility of a captain to take the players along as you move ahead," Ganguly told India TV.

“If the captain puts his arms around a player's shoulder and says that he wants the player to win him games, the performance will automatically improve. That atmosphere needs to be there. Identification of talent is very important."

As Kohli will be missing the upcoming Asia Cup, opener Rohit Sharma will lead the side in the six-nation tournament. Virat was the only consistent performer throughout the Test series in England with a total of 593 runs at 59.30, which included two centuries and three half-centuries.