“When Virat comes out to bat, just wake me up” - When a former England captain made an interesting revelation on Kohli

Team India will be without the services of star batter Virat Kohli during the five-match Test series in England, which will be played from June 20 to August 4. The 36-year-old announced his retirement from Test cricket last month. The former India captain ended his career with 123 Test matches in which he scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, with the aid of 30 hundreds and 31 fifties.

Kohli is considered a role model by many youngsters, not just in India, but across the globe. During an interaction with Cricbuzz back in December 2020, former England captain Michael Vaughan opened up on the impact the Indian batting star had on his son. As part of a discussion, he revealed how his son asked him to wake him up when Kohli came out to bat. Vaughan commented:

“My little boy is a little player and all he does is, always says to me, when Virat comes out to bat, just wake me up. As soon as Virat goes out getting caught at midwicket, he goes back inside to do something else. He’s that powerful with the kids. When you see shots like that fly off the middle of the bat without any real effort or doesn’t seem like any much effort going into the stroke."

Vaughan made the statement after Kohli's 89-run knock against Australia in Sydney in the 2nd ODI in December 2020. The Indian batter hit seven fours and two sixes in his 87-ball knock. His innings, however, went in vain as Australia beat India by 51 runs. Chasing a mammoth target of 391, the Men in Blue made 338-9.

Virat Kohli's Test record in England

The Shubman Gill-led Indian cricket team will miss the services of Kohli during the upcoming five-match Test series in England. The 36-year-old was expected to part of the Test squad especially after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the red-ball format. However, just a few days after Rohit's exit, Kohli also confirmed his retirement from Test cricket.

If we take a look at Kohli's Test batting record in England, he played 17 matches between 2014 and 2023, scoring 1,096 runs at an average of 33.21, with the aid of two hundreds and five half-centuries. The right-handed batter struggled during his maiden Test tour of England in 2014, scoring only 134 runs in 10 innings at an average of 13.40, with a best of 39.

The star batter, however, had sensational series with the bat in 2018, amassing 593 runs in 10 innings at an average of 59.30, with two hundreds and three fifties. He scored 149 in Birmingham and 97 & 103 in Nottingham. With Kohli as captain, Team India won three Test matches in England - Nottingham (2018), Lord's (2021) and The Oval (2021).

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