Ollie Pope reveals two things of Virat Kohli that India will miss in England tests

Virat Kohli announced his retirement from test cricket last month.

The countdown for India’s tour of England 2025 has begun and both teams are preparing for the upcoming first test, which will commence on June 20 at Headingley in Leeds. Under the new skipper, Shubman Gill, the Indian Cricket Team will have a tough challenge coming their way as the Ben Stokes-led side is known to dominate in their home conditions, especially in tests.

Indian Cricket Team will miss the services of Virat Kohli during the England test series. The right-handed batsman announced his retirement from the longest format of the game last month. With 9230 runs in 123 matches, he ended his test career as the fourth-highest run-scorer for India in test cricket.

Some England players have also shown disappointment over not facing Virat Kohli this time. England skipper Ben Stokes texted Kohli that it would be a shame not to see him in tests. Chris Woakes recently mentioned that it will be a shame that the senior batter will not be part of the England series.

Indian team will miss the aura of Virat Kohli at slips- Ollie Pope

Batter Ollie Pope is the latest to join the bandwagon. He feels that the Indian Cricket Team will miss the aura of Kohli during the test series. During a chat with talkSport Cricket, he said that Kohli chirping from the slips will be a big miss during the campaign.

“It’s a young team, but these Indian players have got so much depth and talent. So they’ve got a lot of young guys coming through; a lot of good players. Shubman Gill, their new captain, is a fantastic player. They will miss the aura of Virat Kohli standing at slips and chirping away,” the 27-year-old said.

Notably, Virat Kohli displayed a wonderful show as a batter and skipper in India’s last two test tours to England. In the 2018 tour, he won the Player of the Series award by smashing 593 runs in 10 innings with two centuries and three half-centuries.

In the 2021 tour, the Virat Kohli-led Indian team gained a 2-1 lead after the first four games. The series eventually ended in a 2-2 draw after the final test was rescheduled a year later due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Pope has been picked in the England squad for the first test against India. The series will conclude with the fifth test at The Oval in London, scheduled to take place from July 31 to August 4.

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