Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad has named Virat Kohli as the best Indian batter he bowled to in his Test career. Broad said Kohli had no chinks in his armor and also had the ability to put away the good balls along with the bad balls.
Kohli retired after scoring 9230 runs in 123 Test matches at an average of 46.50 and he is regarded as one of the best batters in the red-ball version. The former Indian captain scored 1991 runs in 28 Test matches against England at an average of 42.36, including five centuries.
After struggling on the 2014 tour of England, Kohli scored 593 runs in five Test matches on the 2018 tour of England.
“The best batsman I bowled to against India in Test match cricket is Virat Kohli. He had an all-round game, no obvious weaknesses. Was not just able to punish my bad balls, but also punish my good balls. Extreme competitive mindset that he was always in the battle. So he’s definitely the best Indian batter I bowled to in Test cricket,” Broad said in a video on the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
On the other hand, Broad picked Jasprit Bumrah as the toughest Indian bowler he faced in his career. Bumrah has picked 65 wickets in 15 Test matches against England at an impressive average of 22.61.
“The best Indian bowler I faced without a doubt although there’s a lot to choose from is Jasprit Bumrah. I found his calmness of his run up and the explosiveness of his action really difficult to line up. The way he could swing the ball in and out, wobble seam, always hitting the stumps, pacey bouncer, just one of those bowlers of the generation really. There’s no surprise to me he’s having great success in every format,” Broad said.
Meanwhile, Broad scalped 74 wickets in his Test career against India.
The second Test match between India and England will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham from July 2nd onwards.
