Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin has backed India skipper Virat Kohli to shrug off the memories of his poor performance in Tests during his last visit to England and feels he is a “completely different batsman” four years on.
In 2014, Kohli managed to score a meagre total of 134 runs in the five matches. However, the signs are already ominous for England with the Indian skipper scoring 301 runs in the six limited-over matches on this tour.
“At that time, it was his first tour… now he has got so many runs behind him and I think will perform wonderfully well,” Azharuddin told.
“He has led India in so many Test matches so I don’t think he will have any pressure now as far as leadership is concerned.”
Kohli struggled against seam bowlers in 2014 with England paceman James Anderson dismissing the right-handed batsman four times in the series. Now, Kohli is the reigning International Cricket Council player of the year and the world’s leading batsman with an average of over 53 in 66 Tests.
