Virat Kohli mostly features in most of the experts' all-time playing XI in ODIs, but in Tests, he is certainly not a sure starter in plenty of experts playing XI. Former England captain Michael Atherton excluded the star Indian batter from his combined playing XI for India-England of the 21st century. The right-hand batter was not among the six Indian players that made it to the England expert's playing XI list ahead of India's five-match Test series against England starting on June 20.
Apart from Atherton, even Nasser Hussain excluded Kohli from his combined India-England playing XI for the 21st century. The 36-year-old featured in 28 Tests against England, scoring 1991 runs at an average of 42.36. The star batter redeemed himself in London in the 2018 Test series, where he dealt with James Anderson easily as he top-scored for India, scoring over 500 runs after a dismal tour in the 2014 series. Besides Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Ashwin, and Rishabh Pant made it to the side as the sole wicketkeeper-batter.
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For the England team, all-rounder Ben Stokes, James Anderson, and Stuart Broad made it to the list. Jasprit Bumrah was included at the expense of Zaheer Khan.
Michael Atherton & Nasser Hussain combined India-England playing XI of the 21st century
Virender Sehwag, Alastair Cook, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Kevin Pietersen, Ben Stokes, Rishabh Pant, Ravi Ashwin, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, and Jasprit Bumrah
While Kohli's overall average against England was a decent 42, his average dipped drastically playing in England - 33.21, the least for him among countries where he has batted. Barring the 2018 series, the right-hand batter averaged just 13.40 in 2014 and 27.67 in the 2021 series in England.
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"That is a very good team, you would hope so. The combination of two cricketing nations. I mean, who would be upset about that? Kohli would be upset, definitely. Root (too)," Nasser Hussain said.
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"What it shows you is the unbelievable quality of cricketers that these two countries have produced over the last quarter of a century," Atherton said.
