India vs England 2021: Will Go Loony If I Take Virat Kohli’s Wicket - Dom Bess

England off-spinner, Dom Bess reckons he will go mad, and celebrate wildly if he manages to get the wicket of Virat Kohli in the Test series in India. Bess in his 12-match Test career has emerged as a promising spinner – he picked a 5-for in South Africa last year.

“I will go loony, be running off!” was Dom Bess’s response to the TalkSport radio at the prospect of taking the wicket of the Indian captain.

Bess made his Test debut in 2018 against Pakistan and could manage to pick just 3 wickets in 2 Tests; he didn’t play a single Test in 2019 as Jack Leach was preferred over him. In Leach’s absence and Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid both away from Test cricket, Bess was selected against the Proteas where he picked his maiden fifer.

Dom Bess and Leach both played in the 2-match Test series in Sri Lanka. The right-hander returned with 12 wickets as Joe Root’s side whitewashed the islanders.

Dom Bess selected over Moeen Ali against India in Chennai

On Friday, Joe Root won the toss in the first Test against India in Chennai. With Leach being the first-choice spinner, there were huge talks over England’s second spinner: the experienced Moeen Ali, who can bat as well, or the youngster Dom Bess, coming off a remarkable series in Sri Lanka; Root opted for the latter.

Part of the reason could also be that Ali hasn’t played a Test since the 2019 Ashes – he missed the Tests in Sri Lanka after being tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

However, former England spinners, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar didn’t have enough trust in the 23-year-old to play in the first Test match in Chennai and were tilting towards Moeen Ali.

“Jack Leach is likely to play since India have a lot of right-handers and I will pick Moeen Ali over Dom Bess as the off-spinner in the eleven as he has done well in India and has the required experience. He can also bat,” Monty Panesar told PTI from the UK.

“The fact that Dom Bess is still young and hasn’t bowled a great number of overs in his life means that he’s not as consistent as he might be in the future,” Graeme Swann opined.

The visitors end Day 1 on top at the score of 263/3 as captain, Joe Root, playing in his 100th Test struck his 20th Test ton along with Dom Sibley’s half-century.

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