Sunil Gavaskar issues massive Virat Kohli warning to England ahead of the 5-Test series

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar made a cheeky remark about England’s ‘Bazball’ strategy ahead of the upcoming five-match Test series in India. Sunil Gavaskar emphasized that Virat Kohli would present a significant challenge to England in the red-ball series.

India and England will engage in a Test series as part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle. The first Test is scheduled to be played in Hyderabad, starting on January 25. Notably, India has remained unbeaten in the Test series at home over the past decade.

We Have Viratball – Sunil Gavaskar Lauds Virat Kohli

In a conversation with Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar highlighted Virat Kohli‘s exceptional performance in home Tests against England. Gavaskar humorously emphasizes that if England has Bazball, India possesses Viratball in their arsenal.

“Agar unke bass Bazball hai to hamare pass Viratball hai (if they have Bazball, we have Viratball),” Gavaskar told Star Sports on Saturday, January 20.

Virat Kohli has scored 1991 runs against England in 28 Tests at an average of 42.36, featuring five centuries and nine half-centuries. In-home Test matches, the 35-year-old scored 1015 runs in 13 matches at an impressive average of 56.38, with a top score of 235.

The former skipper was India’s leading run scorer in the recent Test series in South Africa, amassing 172 runs in four innings at an average of 43. Notably, Virat Kohli delivered a 186-run performance against Australia in his most recent Test appearance in India.

Bazball Can Work It’s Because.. – Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar expressed confidence in England’s Bazball strategy succeeding in India’s spin-friendly conditions, emphasizing the impact of shorter boundaries. The 74-year-old expressed optimism that Indian spinners would excel against England’s batters.

“Bazball can work, it’s because, over the last few years, the boundaries have become shorter. The bats are also well-built that even mishits go for sixes. So, yes, why not, Bazball can work and they will try to do it. They will try to hit over the ground when spinners come out to ball. They might get out but it builds a mentality because the spinners that we have, they also play a lot of T20s,” Gavaskar further stated.

“In T20s, your mentality is to avoid sixes and fours whether you get the wickets or not. You alter the flight and line. So, if they get hit for two or four sixes then they will change the flight and length and it can be effective. The first Test will be very important. We’ve to see to the pitch in Hyderabad, it offers a lot of pace and bounce, which is good for the batters. It’ll be a good test for Bazball against our spinners.”

England has chosen a spin-heavy squad with four frontline spinners, including uncapped players Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir. Meanwhile, India’s squad boasts the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, alongside Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel claimed 32 and 27 wickets, respectively, in the previous home Test series against England in 2020-21, where India registered a 3-1 series victory.

Also read: “Winning A T20 Trophy Would Be Great” – Rohan Gavaskar Backs Virat Kohli To Win T20 World Cup 2024