ENG vs IND: Paul Farbrace Urges England Players To Learn From Virat Kohli

England assistant coach Paul Farbrace has urged his players to learn from Virat Kohli after another scintillating knock from the India skipper in the ongoing third England vs India Test at Trent Bridge.

In a series where batsmen from both the sides have struggled to a great extent, Kohli has looked apart. In a series, where all the others have collective scored just one century, the 29-year old has scored two and missed one by just 3 runs.

He began the series with a splendid knock of 151 and went on to score 51 in the second innings to score a collective 200 runs at Edgbaston. He fell cheaply in both the innings at Lord’s but bounced back in style at Trent Bridge, scoring 200 runs again. In the first innings, the India star slammed 97 before scoring 103 on Monday.

His knock has put India on the verge of winning the crucial third Test. Riding on his century, India declared their second innings on 352 for 7, thus setting the hosts an improbable target of 521. In reply, England finished the day on 23 for no loss.

Speaking at the post-day press conference, Farbrace lauded Kohli and urged his players to take a leaf out of the India batting mainstay’s book.

“You would be hard-pressed to argue against him being seen as the best player in the world at the moment.

“The way that he has developed, played through this series; he has played fantastically. It’s fantastic to see someone playing the game in that way.

“He’s a high-quality player and he’s shown that he’s learned a lot on this tour alone. The way he has tinkered (with technique), the way he has practised and worked on his game, he thoroughly deserves the runs he’s scored,” he said.

England’s butter-fingered fielders have further helped Kohli in the series. At Edgbaston, he was dropped by Dawid Malan on 21 off Anderson. He was also dropped on 51 in that knock. In Trent Bridge, the edge off Anderson when on 93 was let through his hands and legs by gully fielder Keaton Jennings for four.

Talking about those spilled catches, Farbrace said:

“Our bowlers might argue that he’s been given too many chances, but the bloke has shown he is high quality.

“I’m a big believer in players learning from players. I think our players should be watching the way he has played, the way he lets the ball come. He almost takes the third and fourth slips out of the game the way he plays at the ball.

“So, you are looking for the best players to learn from the best players and trying to adapt their game to suit (them). And there is no better exponent of that than him,” he said.