'Personal situations demand his presence': Kohli withdraws from start of England series in major India blow

You've just shifted the goalposts. Is the discussion on test cricket or cricket in general?

You ever see that video with Ganguly up on the balcony at Lords, shirtless, giving it to the English establishment? Priceless. Kohli went down the path he started. Kohli is the face of current India's impregnable power. He's unapologetic about it. Ganguly was the face of their ascent to the top of the mountain.

I thought about Ganguly and he certainly started that process, but I think Kohli really took it up a notch. He brought India media & fans into the mix by being obviously combative. If he didn't like a player or a team, he made that very clear, whereas Ganguly was less demonstrative

Agree with all you you've written. I just don't think Kohli was a very good cricket tactician. He badly needed others, eg MS Dhoni, to either reassure him he was making the right calls or even have Dhoni make decisions for him. I'm not for a second suggesting that partnership was a bad thing, quite the opposite, but while he inspired his team, he struggled with the pressures of the role, which is why he's not captain now.

I'd say Ganguly is the captain that turned India's mentality around.

What did Kohli change about cricket in India? Guys like Bedi, Dev, Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dhoni. They’re the ones that built the sport into a behemoth in India. Kohli is just cashing in. In fact he’s mostly presided over an era where India have failed to win the big tournaments.

Take your pick. Dhoni, Ganguly, Gavaskar, Sehwag, Bishan Bedi. All had a bigger impact on cricket in India than Virat Kohli

You're talking about stats. I'm talking about impact on the game of cricket in India.

For me, he’s an on-field leader by leading by example in dragging India to a more aggressive playing mindset/approach. And that on-field – very “non-Indian” approach (up to that point) – has rubbed off on the India cricket fans. TBH, I struggle to think of another individual cricketer that has had such a transformational impact on the way their own supporters, support their team and how they see their own national identity as cricket fans. — Or putting it in a slightly different way; Tendulkar provided India with an anchor, whereby the India fans finally felt they had a team that could compete with confidence regularly in the late 90s/2000s. They weren’t always winning, but their stellar batting line up, anchored around Sachin, also meant they weren’t mostly on the losing side. – MSD was a very positive impact, but it was Virat that flipped the switch in India fans’ minds, in that India could actually be world-beaters – and subsequently became such. – So for mine, Virat stands head and shoulders above all others re impact on India cricket.

I believe they did too. Say, Tanveer or Jason Sangha or Gurinder Sandhu was to get selected for an Australian tour of Pakistan, do you think Islamabad would have any qualms about their visa status? Somehow I don't think so... Granted, Pakistan's circumstances differ from India's in many respects, yet I smell nationalistic hypocrisy at play. Unlike Cricket Australia's stance to playing bilateral fixtures against Afghanistan! :happy:

I'm guessing we'll see a repeat of the last Aussie series with pitches turning sideways, almost from ball one and games barely lasting 3 days. India wins enough games to retain the de Mello Trophy, then suddenly the pitches become far more batting friendly

Didn't they do it to Khawaja as well?

Can’t wait to see the home pitches :cricket: :boxing: :shocked:

Interesting you talk about Kohli's on-field leadership, Jeff. For mine, he's a must to have in any "best of" Indian XI, in any format, but I don't rate him highly as an on-field leader. I thought he was very good when he had someone like MS Dhoni in support, but I think he struggled without that sort of calming presence. All that said, he's been terrific off the field. He's been instrumental in making India a far more aggressive team. I thought they were far too easily steamrolled by other teams before Kohli stood up and gave back as good as he got. I also think he forced them into become a much better fielding unit, with guys like Jadeja being world class.

The last time they played a series in India, Rohit was on fire at the top of the order and played at least one innings exactly as you described. He also batted when conditions were most in his favour because the pitches, after that First Test, deteriorated so quickly and the rest of order struggled. If he doesn't make runs in those first couple of games, I reckon England's in with a sniff.

It seems to me the media is also respectful of the players right to a bit of privacy when they announce a time-off period. They're usually after stories like rats up drainpipes and very often, if they can't get one, they make one up, but I'm yet to hear this happening, especially when mental health is mentioned. Hopefully the media keeps it up.

Isn't it staggering that England management did not work out the visa issue for their squad before arrival? Or was there no indication from Indian immigration of the status of Shoiab being a problem and they put the hoop up at the last minute?

Ok. Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble, Dev... These four proved their mettle at home and abroad. I think no one would dispute them in a top 5. Who is the 5th best Indian test player if not Kohli?

Not better Gamechanger. Tendulkar's record speaks for its self But Kohli is my first pick as a number three

Better than Tendulkar?