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"Kohli has to get runs where it's considered to be the toughest conditions in the world" : Kapil Dev

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"Kohli has to get runs where it's considered to be the toughest conditions in the world" : Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev has urged India captain Virat Kohli to spend time in the County Championship before his country's Test series with England this summer.

The five-match series between the two countries begins in August and India will be hoping for better fortunes on English soil having won just three Tests since 1986.

During their last series in 2014, Kohli, currently the second best five-day batsman in the ICC rankings, failed to register a half century or a ton and averaged a paltry 13.40, way below his current average of 53.40.

The advice from one of Kohli's predecessors as India captain is that a stint on the county circuit may be beneficial in adapting to English conditions.

"If he can get it and if he can keep on playing there, I think it always helps," said Dev, who was speaking in his role as an ambassador for Laureus.

Kapil Dev has urged India captain Virat Kohli to spend time in the County Championship before his country's Test series with England this summer.

The five-match series between the two countries begins in August and India will be hoping for better fortunes on English soil having won just three Tests since 1986.

During their last series in 2014, Kohli, currently the second best five-day batsman in the ICC rankings, failed to register a half century or a ton and averaged a paltry 13.40, way below his current average of 53.40.

The advice from one of Kohli's predecessors as India captain is that a stint on the county circuit may be beneficial in adapting to English conditions.

"If he can get it and if he can keep on playing there, I think it always helps," said Dev, who was speaking in his role as an ambassador for Laureus.

"Practice makes a man perfect; one has to practice to those conditions.

"What we're seeing, with his temperament, I think he's good enough (to score runs in England). It all depends if he gets a good start. He has the ability.

"If he can play a season or two in English county cricket there would be nothing wrong (with that) because if you want to be the best player in the world you have to get runs everywhere.

"With so many players, we are seeing they are outstanding outside India or Pakistan, (but) when they come to the subcontinent, they don't get runs. Maybe they are playing on a fast, bouncy track and when it comes to a turning track they are not good enough.

"The bar which we as cricketers set for these people is that you have to be good in all conditions. That's what we used to say about Allan Border or Vivian Richards or Sunil Gavaskar - they were players to play any part, anywhere, any kind of conditions, they used to perform.

"Virat Kohli, the question mark, is in front of him, it's there. He has to get runs where it is considered to be the toughest conditions in the world."

Dev was Indian captain when they beat England 2-0 in a three-match contest in 1986 but only once since, in 2007, have India won a Test series on English soil.

Dev's fear is that with the rise of limited-overs cricket and a packed schedule, the current crop will have little time to acclimatise before the series begins at Edgbaston on August 1.

"When you win the series, I think every day it looked beautiful," Dev recalled. "You don't play well, I think you want to finish the tour and run away.

"Most of the teams struggle in India because of the spinning track, turning pitches, and I think it's the same thing (in England) - when the ball starts moving, people are not used to it so much. That takes time to settle down.

"The bad part is that they don't get enough practice to play county cricket like we used to get because there's so much cricket happening, they don't have time on the schedule."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket...ay-county-cricket-england-india-legend-kapil/
 
Kapil articulates the id of quite a few Pakistan cricket followers on this forum
 
To be frank, Kohli will do well. I don't see him failing two series in a row in England. All this talk about a batsman has to do well in all countries is pretty baseless. Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid et all are considered greats of the game with poor records in 1 or 2 countries. I don't think England has been the toughest country to bat for Asian players traditionally. If you look at the history, most of great Asian players have had good records in England. It is Australia and South Africa which have been the Achilles heel for the subcontinent players.
 
He made a good point for playing county cricket.

However, Kohli already performed in tough batting conditions in SA and I dont think England conditions would be harder than that.
 
In current form Kohli decides what is tough what is not tough. If he bats easily it doesn't automatically mean conditions are easy. In SA he faced some of the toughest conditions one can have especially in the Test series.
 
"Toughest conditions in the world?"

That could be a wee bit of an exaggeration. Tough, yes.
 
Of all the people kapil says this. I am sure he watched Sandip patil smashed Bob willis for 6 fours in an over in a test match in England.
 
In current form Kohli decides what is tough what is not tough. If he bats easily it doesn't automatically mean conditions are easy. In SA he faced some of the toughest conditions one can have especially in the Test series.

theres also the mental aspect now.

Kohli has admitted the failure in england and the negative press after haunts him.

so he may have faced tougher or equal conditions elsewhere but not with the added pressure of having to prove himself
 
SA and Australia are the two most difficult conditions for Asian batsmen. Kohli has dominated in both countries. England is a country where even Ajit Agarkar and Kumble have scored tons for India. Historically, even batsmen who have struggled in varied surfaces like Azhar, Zaheer Abbas etc have done well in England. Kohli should rectify his record there by the time he ends his career.
 
County cricket will help him a great deal no doubt but where is the time? He plays all three formats and IPL with packed schedule India has would be difficult for him to play county..
 
SA and Australia are the two most difficult conditions for Asian batsmen. Kohli has dominated in both countries. England is a country where even Ajit Agarkar and Kumble have scored tons for India. Historically, even batsmen who have struggled in varied surfaces like Azhar, Zaheer Abbas etc have done well in England. Kohli should rectify his record there by the time he ends his career.

Australia i disagree.

In recent years Asian batsman have done well in Aus since pitches for last 5 years or so have been absolute pancakes

Azhar Ali had a bradmanesque series there
 
theres also the mental aspect now.

Kohli has admitted the failure in england and the negative press after haunts him.

so he may have faced tougher or equal conditions elsewhere but not with the added pressure of having to prove himself

Kohli strikes me as a player who does even better when he has something to prove. He will come hard at England. I heard India play a practice match or two before the series starts too ? Thats a good start.
 
Australia i disagree.

In recent years Asian batsman have done well in Aus since pitches for last 5 years or so have been absolute pancakes

Azhar Ali had a bradmanesque series there

Agree to an extent, but Aussie bowlers at home are still a tough prospect for any batsman. Probably the reason they have are the hardest to beat at home despite dishing out pancakes.
 
Kohli strikes me as a player who does even better when he has something to prove. He will come hard at England. I heard India play a practice match or two before the series starts too ? Thats a good start.

they play in late august / september and have ODI series prior to the Test so he should be in top form by the time the real stuff starts
 
I don't think England has been the toughest country to bat for Asian players traditionally. If you look at the history, most of great Asian players have had good records in England. It is Australia and South Africa which have been the Achilles heel for the subcontinent players.

Bear in mind that most had jobs in County cricket and learned how to bat here. In the last few years some English test tracks have become flatties too.
 
Eng will win 3-1 or 4-1 if no rain.

India have a good chance actually since the matches are played so late in the summer. Had it been in May/June then it would have been way more challenging with fresh green wickets. I know India defeated them on a greenish wicket last time but that is not the norm.
 
India have a good chance actually since the matches are played so late in the summer. Had it been in May/June then it would have been way more challenging with fresh green wickets. I know India defeated them on a greenish wicket last time but that is not the norm.

Keep the excuses ready .... brother.

King Kohli :kohli2 will make sure that many of his critics eat humble pie in that Eng tour !
 
SA has always been the toughest place to bat for Asian batsmen. Most of our main batsmen average less than 35 there. And almost all of our 45+ average batsmen have good records in England. Kapil averaged 35 himself in England. Hell, even Agarkar and Kumble have hundreds in England. I am not sure if England has even been the 2nd toughest place to bat for Indians. NZ or Australia probably takes that place.
 
SA conditions were tough to bat. Kohli averaged 47 there in that series.I dont think there is much required for him to prove. Just need to continue the consistent run. He is all set to hit the league of top5 Asian test batsmen of all-time.
 
SA has always been the toughest place to bat for Asian batsmen. Most of our main batsmen average less than 35 there. And almost all of our 45+ average batsmen have good records in England. Kapil averaged 35 himself in England. Hell, even Agarkar and Kumble have hundreds in England. I am not sure if England has even been the 2nd toughest place to bat for Indians. NZ or Australia probably takes that place.

thtas because of county cricket exposure

now its not so common
 
Keep the excuses ready .... brother.

King Kohli :kohli2 will make sure that many of his critics eat humble pie in that Eng tour !

I haven’t critisized Kohli at all. He is a World Class batsman and will do well in England also. If the wickets are green he will struggle like any other batsman in the world. And I am sure you agree with me that conditions for batting would ne slightly better late summer than in May/June.
 
Kohli scored plenty off runs in SA that is considered to be amongst the most difficult places. Now he has to do the same England, Australia and PAKISTAN One completed successful, three to go:yk3 New Zealand can also be a tough place for batsman so make it four.
 
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Kohli scored plenty off runs in SA that is considered to be amongst the most difficult places. Now he has to do the same England, Australia and PAKISTAN One completed successful, three to go:yk3 New Zealand can also be a tough place for batsman so make it four.

Averages 71 in NZ and 62 in Australia. Still has to prove himself again. :uakmal
 
I haven’t critisized Kohli at all. He is a World Class batsman and will do well in England also. If the wickets are green he will struggle like any other batsman in the world. And I am sure you agree with me that conditions for batting would ne slightly better late summer than in May/June.

Compared to last time in Eng, Kohli has vastly improved player now. He showed his class on tough SA pitches, king Kohli :kohli2 will overcome whatever is thrown at him in Eng :19:
 
thtas because of county cricket exposure

now its not so common

Nope. England has had inferior bowling lineups when you compare them to SA, Aus and even NZ most times, and then a lot of English pitches have been flat too (Out of 13 innings in India vs England in 2002, 7 were almost 400+). Agarkar and Kumble scored hundreds - their only international ones - in England. And Agarkar played county cricket in 2004, scored a century in 2002. Dravid and Ganguly played well in England in '96 and hadn't played county back then. Sachin had played well in England before playing for Yorkshire.

SA has more bounce and seam movement, and greater quality fast bowlers too. None of the top batsmen from India, Pak and SL (except Virat now who averages 55) has averaged even 47 in South Africa and only 6 of them have scored 500+ runs there. Sanga, Dravid, Ganguly, Jayawardene, Younis and Inzi average less than 37 in SA. We know the figures for England.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...6;team=7;team=8;template=results;type=batting
 
Nope. England has had inferior bowling lineups when you compare them to SA, Aus and even NZ most times, and then a lot of English pitches have been flat too (Out of 13 innings in India vs England in 2002, 7 were almost 400+). Agarkar and Kumble scored hundreds - their only international ones - in England. And Agarkar played county cricket in 2004, scored a century in 2002.

do you know about sth called anomalies

In that match India were 160 for 7 and also lost by 150+ runs.

main batsmen failed

this is like saying that since Wasim has a 250 he is better than batsman who dont have double hundreds
 
He made a good point for playing county cricket.

However, Kohli already performed in tough batting conditions in SA and I dont think England conditions would be harder than that.
SA don't have tough batting conditions mostly anymore
 
do you know about sth called anomalies

In that match India were 160 for 7 and also lost by 150+ runs.

main batsmen failed

this is like saying that since Wasim has a 250 he is better than batsman who dont have double hundreds

Not anomalies. Okay this may help you.

Average scores in 1990s in each country:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...1990;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

Average scores in 2000s:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...2000;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

Average Scores in 2010s:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team
 
do you know about sth called anomalies

In that match India were 160 for 7 and also lost by 150+ runs.

main batsmen failed

this is like saying that since Wasim has a 250 he is better than batsman who dont have double hundreds

and how convenient of you to miss the many other points I had made
 
Historically Eng has been the easiest for Indian batsmen , compared to SA and Aus . Even the likes of Kumble and Agarkar scored hundreds there . Eng is probably the toughest for Virat , but generally its not .
 
So what if he does not perform in ENG. Some posters are behaving as all the great batsmen have performed great in each countries. On that base, Ponting/Sanga/Lara should not be considered as great batsmen as they also failed in more than one country. Kohli does not need to prove to anything to these biased posters.
 
Kohli scored in difficult conditions in South Africa. Don't see him failing in England this time.
 
I think people (VK fans) are taking wrong Kapil Dev's comment.

Kohli is on his way to greatness.

Scoring (match-winning) 100s in England would be the icing on cake :kohli
 
He wants him to perform in England as well and advising him to play county cricket too for that. What's wrong with that?
 
SA is the toughest place for Indians to score runs and Kohli scored lots of them in this tour.

England being the toughest place to score is a joke. Ajit Agarkar has a century in the toughest place to score runs. :))
 
Outdated nonsense by Kapil.

Kohli is the most complete batsmen to emerge from Asia, and already among the top five greatest batsmen in history. England - especially in the late summer - is no longer a tough place to score.

The likes of Younis, Azhar, Shafiq etc., batsmen who are vastly inferior to Kohli, have scored runs in England in late summer against the same bowling attack that Kohli will face.

He will have a dominant series, but I still back England to win the series.
 
Even if he has a mediocre career from here on, Kohli will end up an ATG. If he stays on current trajectory, he will probably end up as the greatest ever.

Runs in England this summer or not.
 
Even if he has a mediocre career from here on, Kohli will end up an ATG. If he stays on current trajectory, he will probably end up as the greatest ever.

Runs in England this summer or not.

He is already an ATG. Whatever he achieves from this point will only serve to enhance his legacy, but his name is firmly etched in the history of the game already. Undoubtedly one of the greatest and most influential cricketers of all time.
 
In AUS: 62.00 AVG (5 100s)
In SA: 55.80 AVG (2 100s)
In NZ: 71.33 AVG (1 100)

The "has to get runs" in England requirement is nonsense. England isn't even a top 4 team right now. He's scored lots of runs against better teams on their pitches.

After he scores runs in ENG, they'll say he has to score in Bangladesh. :yk
 
If he is talking about England ,hope he realizes Kumble has a ton there.
 
In AUS: 62.00 AVG (5 100s)
In SA: 55.80 AVG (2 100s)
In NZ: 71.33 AVG (1 100)

The "has to get runs" in England requirement is nonsense. England isn't even a top 4 team right now. He's scored lots of runs against better teams on their pitches.

After he scores runs in ENG, they'll say he has to score in Bangladesh. :yk

Or worse, have to score against Afg in Kabul
 
Still no ton in PAK in 4th inning in winning cause, poor batsman

Oh yea how can I forget Pakistan.
Such a poor batsman against Pakistan.
[MENTION=129948]Bilal7[/MENTION] logic: Kohli have 0 tons against Pakistan, so he is not best batsman world.
 
It always amazes me how PP "experts" seem to know more about Indian cricket and Kohli than a former Indian cricketer like Kapil himself :facepalm:
 
It always amazes me how PP "experts" seem to know more about Indian cricket and Kohli than a former Indian cricketer like Kapil himself :facepalm:

I don't think Kapil knows about current indian cricketers much more than us. He's not involved with BCCI that closely, is he? ICL had soured his relations with BCCI iirc
 
Kohli still needs to prove himself in difficult conditions | Which are these conditions?

Read that some posters still believe that Kohli needs to prove himself in difficult conditions. I would like to know which litmus tests are still pending to be cleared?

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] has shared one already - Match winning hundred in the months of May-June in overcast conditions that favor prodigious swing+seam (together, not one alone) against his choice of the top English bowlers in their prime.
Any other?
 
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