India vs England 2021: Virat Kohli Appealed Like A Maniac, Felt Immense Pressure On Day 4, Says David Lloyd

Indian captain Virat Kohli seemed to be at his wit’s end on day 4 of the first Test against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. As the visitors piled on the misery, former England batsman David Lloyd mentioned that Kohli was seen getting desperate for a wicket and as per his opinion, was appealing maniacally.

Virat Kohli returned to helm the team after spending quite a lot of time away from the game. He had just played one Test, apart from the white ball series on the tour of Australia, before coming back home for the birth of his daughter.

Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane led the Indian team to a spirited and amazing 2-1 Test series win with victories in Melbourne and in Brisbane, where Australia had not lost a Test for the past 33 years. There were also calls for Rahane to take on the captaincy on a permanent basis so that Virat Kohli could focus on his batting and score runs.

Virat Kohli was under immense pressure: David Lloyd

England ended their second innings on 178 and set a target of 420 runs for India to chase and win the Test and go 1-0 up in the four-Test series. David Lloyd, who played 9 Tests and 8 ODIs for England and scored his highest Test score of 214 against India, mentioned that Kohli seemed under immense pressure and compared him to the cool and calm Ajinkya Rahane.

“He was appealing manically on the fourth day and called for two shocking reviews in the middle session. The commentators said he was trying to lift his team. I reckon he was trying to influence the umpires. We saw it after India had spent 190 overs in the field and now we’ve seen it with England. Opening the batting is as tough as it gets after you’ve been fielding that long in searing heat,” Lloyd wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.

Further, the 73-year-old compared him to Rahane and said that the vice-captain’s success in Australia as a leader is getting to Kohli, who is feeling the heat to be successful as captain.

“It hasn’t gone unnoticed in India that Ajinkya Rahane led the side brilliantly in Australia and I reckon Virat Kohli is feeling the pressure,” Lloyd wrote.

David Lloyd also touched upon the subject of England’s late declaration and he spoke of Sir Alastair Cook summing up this declaration by captain Joe Root well. He said that the team management knew that every cricket pundit and fan and even the media will be shouting for them to declare and give them enough time and chance to win the match.

“England will know that people watching, pundits and media will be shouting ‘declare, declare, declare’ but they will do it their way. They are the ones who will face the consequences if they get it wrong and time will tell if they were right. If you’re asking me I would have pulled out once the lead got to 400,” Lloyd said.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: Joe Root Is Being Too Cautious – Michael Vaughan And Shane Warne Baffled By England’s Late Declaration