India Will Miss His Fighting Spirit: Ben Stokes On Virat Kohli Ahead Of Ind vs Eng Series

The bond between Ben Stokes and Virat Kohli is not hidden from anyone in the cricket field. After Kohli's test retirement and before the start of the India and England five-match test series, Stokes praised Kohli and said that Kohli's fighting spirit will be missed a lot in this series. The series starting on 20 June will be led by Shubman Gill against England. No matter how much the team tries, the absence of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin will definitely be felt by this young team. Before the start of this series, England Cricket released a video where Ben Stokes was talking about the Indian team, where he also talked about Virat's retirement and how the team will miss him.

He said,

"I think India will miss his fighting spirit in the game and his desire to win. He has made the number 18 his own. It will be a bit strange to not see the number 18 on the back of any Indian player's jersey, but he has been a class act for them for a long time."

Stokes also revealed that he had sent a message to Kohli after his retirement from Test cricket. He said,

"I messaged him, saying it would be a shame not to play against him because I love playing against Virat. We both love playing against each other because when we are on the field, we have the same mindset—that it is a battle."

When Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket, he became India's fourth-highest run scorer in red ball cricket, scoring 9,230 runs with an average of 46.85 in 123 innings. There was a time when his average did not go below 55 in the years 2016-19.

The Indian team has gone through a transition phase playing a five-match Test series against England, and now they will look forward to finishing this series well and returning home.