New Delhi, May 14 Former England captain Michael Vaughan highlighted the significant void left by Virat Kohli in Test cricket, describing him as the most pivotal figure in the format over the past three decades.
Kohli drew curtains to his stellar Test career on Monday via social media post and hung up his boots with 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, including hitting 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out.
“More than 30 years, I don’t believe there is any individual who has done more for the Test format than Virat. Test cricket would have been a far blander place without him, and there is a chance it would have lost its appeal if he had not been as interested and invested in it," Vaughan wrote.
He drew a sharp contrast between Kohli’s tenure and that of his predecessor MS Dhoni, acknowledging Dhoni's greatness in white-ball cricket but pointing out a lack of visible Test passion under his leadership. “When he (Kohli) took the captaincy just over a decade ago, I was worried India was losing interest in Test cricket. The game needs India to be madly in love with Test cricket, and that is what Virat fostered as captain," he wrote.
Over a 123-Test career, Kohli scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 28 matches against England in which he tallied 1,991 runs. His record in England, 1,096 runs from 17 Tests with two centuries and five fifties, often came under intense scrutiny during the 2014 and 2018 tours.
Vaughan fondly remembered Kohli’s riveting contests with England pace legend James Anderson, especially their duel at Edgbaston in 2018. He added, “Jimmy often had the wood over Kohli and with him gone, I thought he’d come out and play with a real flamboyancy this summer. We haven’t seen much of that from him in England; it’s been more about his defensive strength, skill, touch, technique, and patience. In other parts of the world, he played with unbelievable aggression.”
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