Former England batter Geoffrey Boycott believes that Virat Kohli’s absence will be a more significant blow to India than Rohit Sharma’s retirement as they face England in the upcoming five-match Test series in Leeds. Boycott consistently viewed Kohli as India’s pivotal player.
Both Rohit and Kohli announced their retirements from Test cricket in May, leaving considerable voids in India’s batting lineup at the opening and number four positions, respectively. Kohli, at 36, accumulated an impressive 9,230 runs in 123 Tests, ranking him fourth on India’s all-time Test run-scorers list.
“The retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hurts the chances of India beating England. Kohli is the biggest loss as he has been their best batsman and talisman in all three formats. With so much international cricket played by India, and so little rest, it takes its toll and the mind becomes fatigued,” Boycott wrote in his column for The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.
He elaborated on the mental toll of constant cricket: “It does not matter how much talent or experience you have, if you are not mentally fresh and up for the challenge then it becomes draining. Rohit was a superb batsman. At his best, a beautiful stroke player, but he won’t be missed as much as Kohli because his Test record was good rather than exceptional. In the last couple of years his batting was a little inconsistent, which was not surprising in his late 30s.”
Boycott further commented on Rohit’s physical and mental fatigue: “Rohit was never a natural athlete like Kohli and he knows that opening the innings in England can be pretty tough because the new ball moves around more. You really have to be up for the challenge to have any chance of success. I just think that over time the wear and tear of opening the innings and being captain in all three formats wore him down.”
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