WTC Final | Time for Kane and Kohli to walk the talk, haven't done too well in England, feels Aakash Chopra
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has stated that Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson haven't set the world on fire in England and it's about time the leaders walk the talk. Irfan Pathan also reckoned that Virat Kohli needs to score that big hundred that everyone has been waiting for.
Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson are considered two of the best batters in the present era when it comes to the longer version of the game. In the big World Test Championship final encounter, both the players who average over 50 in Tests, are expected to take the world by storm with their respective performances.
However, both the batters don't quite have the best of numbers in England, which is touted as one of the toughest places to bat. Despite nailing the 2018 tour of England, Virat Kohli's average is a meagre 36.35 in the country while the Kiwi skipper has fared even worse, with an average of 26.10. Renowned cricket expert, Aakash Chopra, touching on their mediocre numbers in England, stated they haven't set the world on fire in the challenging conditions.
"You are obviously anxious as you are waiting for an event to start and you are talking about a world event, the final of the WTC. So you are slightly nervy to begin with but nerves do settle down after a period of time. But when you play this amount of cricket and that high pedigree, you know how to switch on and off. A few things to settle as well, when you look at Kane and Kohli, Kane is averaging just under 30 in England, Kohli is also averaging 36, it's not that they have set the world on fire on the English soil," Aakash Chopra told Star Sports, reported India Today.
The popular Hindi commentator further added that it's about time when both the leaders walk the walk in a crucial encounter.
"They have been there few times there, both of them, it's time for the leaders to walks the talk, lead by example and score the necessary runs because what we remember is the contributions of runs in the knockout stages. These are the things which stay with you forever."
Virat Kohli will be India's most reliable batsman in the English conditions, especially after how well he did with the bat against the Three Lions in the 2018 Tests. However, Irfan Pathan hopes that Virat finally gets a big hundred that the world is waiting to see for some time now.
"Virat Kohli needs to start this tour of England from here he left in 2018, 2014 was different. Keep doing what he is doing the best and take the responsibility but at the same time he is going with 5 bowlers, he needs to keep that in mind and Virat Kohli the batsman needs to come out and maybe score that big hundred we are waiting for," Pathan said.