IND vs AUS | Don’t see India being able to win those Tests without the Virat Kohli factor, opines Michael Vaughan

Indian skipper Virat Kohli remained one of the few glimmers of hope for India in the middle by playing a scintillating 89-run innings during his team’s 390-run chase in Sydney on Sunday. However, a brilliant catch from Moises Henriques at short-midwicket ended Kohli’s stay on the crease and with that also ensured that the Indian skipper does not reach his first hundred of 2020, making it his fourth fifty in 8 matches he played so far this year. 

Talking about Kohli, former England captain Vaughan stated that there is no reason to worry about Kohli getting out uncharacteristically before scoring a hundred. He opined that India the real cause of concern for India would be playing the three Tests without their skipper, where he believes India will struggle to win. 

“The one thing I don’t worry about with Virat Kohli is his batting. There is no concern about his batting whatsoever. He is a wonderful player, he’s the best of the era across the formats, there is no doubts about that,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz. 

“I worry about those three Tests that India have without him. I don’t see India being able to win those Tests without the Virat Kohli factor. He is that important for that Test team. His 100s will come. Once he gets one, probably he would get 3-or-4 together, he’s that good.”

Kohli is one of the most well-known cricketers of his generation and his record speaks for itself. He is set to break a plethora of records by the time his international career comes to an end with almost 12,000 runs in ODI cricket to his name at the moment. 

Vaughan talked about the influence Kohli has on youngsters and revealed that his son is a big fan of Kohli and asks Vaughan to wake him up when the Indian skipper comes out to bat.

“My little boy is a little player and all he does is, always says to me, when Virat comes out to bat, just wake me up. As soon as Virat goes out getting caught at midwicket, he goes back inside to do something else. He’s that powerful with the kids. When you see shots like that fly off the middle of the bat without any real effort or doesn’t seem like any much effort going into the stroke - it’s just flying into the stands. He’s a special player, he’s an absolute genius,” he said.