Ind vs Eng Test series: Panesar reveals potential reason for Kohli`s retirement

Former England cricketer, Monty Panesar, feels that a lack of solution for his struggles with the ball outside the off-stump led Virat Kohli to draw curtains on his Test career ahead of the five-match series.

“With Kohli, what has happened is that against the ball outside the off stump, the fifth stump line, especially in Australia on fast bouncy pitches he was struggling. So he probably thought maybe the fact that in England it is going to swing a lot more, he`ll probably hasn`t worked out solutions in that corridor of uncertainty,” Panesar told PTI.

“And I think that`s probably been one of the reasons why he thought to retire and put all his energy with RCB and ODI cricket for India,” added the former cricketer.

Further speaking, the England-born heaped praise on Kohli by saying that he has been a brilliant ambassador of Test cricket.

“I think he`s done very well as a cricketer in all formats. He has been a brilliant ambassador for Test cricket. He probably feels that he`s done his best, he`s achieved everything and probably feels like it`s time for the youngsters to step up,” said the veteran of 50 Test matches.

After the immediate retirements of stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Team India will have a huge void to fill in the longest format of the game. Team India`s think tank has appointed Shubman Gill as the new Test captain.

The 43-year-old further feels that England won`t look to take home advantage. At the same time, the Englishmen won`t be playing `Bazball-style` cricket on flat tracks.

“It is going to be very warm, pitches are going to be flat. I don`t think England would look to take home advantage. They will produce neutral pitches. They can`t play Bazball on seaming pitches. That will also play into the hands of Indian batters as they would like playing on flat pitches,” he said.

Ind vs ENG Test series: Squads

India’s squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

England`s squad: Ben Stokes (C), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.

(With PTI Inputs)

This article first appeared on Mid Day