Graham Gooch regards Virat Kohli as ‘dangerous customer’ for England with his extra-motivation
Graham Gooch has pinpointed Virat Kohli as the danger for the home side as he would have extra-motivation to better his sub-par record in England. He suggested that Kohli and Joe Root should not be compared on the basis of the number of runs they score, but on the wins they get for their country.
India would lock horns with England in five-match Test series away from home starting August 1. Former cricketer Graham Gooch has said that India captain Virat Kohli has been a top-ranked player and would be looking to improve his batting record in England. Kohli scored 134 runs in five Test matches on his last tour of England which according to Gooch made him a dangerous customer to England with his extra-motivation.
“He (Kohli) is a top-ranked player in the world at the moment and I think a dangerous customer for England as he has the motivation to improve his record in this country. Every player wants to be known to be able to play well in all sorts of conditions,” Gooch told BCCI.TV in an interview.
Talking about Kohli and his England skipper Joe Root, Gooch suggested that the two batsmen should be assessed on the basis of the matches they have won for their respective teams.
“And I think one thing that people should remember what sets them apart in the modern era — people who watch shouldn’t remember how many runs they score or what innings they played. But (they should remember) when Virat Kohli or Joe Root played an innings, that helped them win the match for their team. That’s what counts. Not the number of runs. It might be 50 in difficult conditions or 150 on a flat wicket but when your performance helps your side win the match, that’s when you should be proud of,” said Gooch.
Mentioning about the upcoming series between India and England, Gooch was of the opinion that the bilateral tie would be a close affair but also admitted that England hadn’t played good Test cricket in recent past. He also pointed out that the warm weather would assist India and has
“It is going to be a very close series. As you know, we have had very unusual weather in this country. No rain really for eight weeks. It is unheard of. Probably, it is hotter than what it is in India at the moment. I think that will level it up a little bit. If the ball was moving quite a lot, it would have been a slight advantage for people like Broad and Anderson, who are world-class performers, when the ball is moving around. I think wickets will be a little bit flatter and so I think (it is) quite a difficult series to pick a winner actually. Maybe, one Test either way,” Gooch said.
“As an Englishman, I would want England to win but our form in Test cricket hasn’t been that good recently. We did very poorly in the winter in Australia, beaten 0-4, beaten by New Zealand, drew against Pakistan. We are not playing Test cricket as we would like to. We have some very good cricketers but they need to perform,” he added.
Hailing India’s abilities, Gooch said that the Virat Kohli-led side is a strong team and England need to play good cricket to get the positive outcomes.
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